Ardcarne Garden Centre: Job of the week: Lift and divide bearded irises
Job of the week: Lift and divide bearded irises
Beautiful bearded irises can form congested clumps, so every three to five years dig up your plants and split them up. Bearded irises have rhizomes (swollen root-like stems at the top of the soil) and you can easily detach a strong healthy section, with a sharp knife. Trim back the leaves by about a third, then replant into fresh soil, making sure the rhizome rests just at soil level. Firm in well and water.
Flowers:
• Pot up self-sown annual flower seedlings to grow on for next year
• Give lady’s mantle (Alchemilla mollis) a trim, cutting off spent flowers and old foliage
• Remove leaves affected by powdery mildew to slow down the spread
Fruit & veg:
• Look out for signs of blight on tomatoes or potatoes and remove infected foliage
• Buy ready-grown plugs of winter veg to replace spent summer crops
• Harvest sweetcorn cobs as soon as the silks turn brown
Greenhouse:
• Look out for magnesium deficiency in tomatoes and spray with Epsom salts
• Harvest chillies as they turn bright red (or yellow or purple, depending on variety)
• Wipe off dust from the foliage of large-leaved houseplants with a damp cloth
Around the garden:
• Weed pond margins and bog gardens to stop them getting overrun
• Clear paths of weeds by hand pulling or using a weedkiller.
• Cut back plants overhanging or shading out the lawn