20 perennials that divide in the fall

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Autumn is a great time for planting and transplanting perennial flowers, especially if it is time to share them - they have grown so much that they began to lose in decorativeness. Another reason to divide perennials in the flower garden is to get several plants instead of one. And autumn breeding by division has a significant advantage over spring - seated delenki adapt to a new place of residence before the winter, and in the spring they actively start to grow and bloom in the first season. We offer readers a list of 20 perennials that are best shared in the fall.

1. Astilba

We divide Astilba only if the flowering has declined. You can divide without digging, leave part of the plant in place, sprinkling fresh soil on it. The rhizome of astilbe grows up and eventually appears on the surface, lacking moisture and risking freezing in winter. Too thick old rhizome cannot provide the plant with magnificent bloom.

Astilba is a “water chowder”, it needs to be planted where it can get enough moisture. She is not afraid of shady places and nearby groundwater. After planting, it must be mulched. During the autumn planting, more organic matter is brought in - by a bucket of peat and humus per 1 m² and very little (1 4 cup per 1 m²) of superphosphate or autumn fertilizer.

The bush is divided with a sharp knife or a shovel so that 5-6 buds remain on each dividend, and planted at a distance of 30-50 cm, depending on the size of the adult plant. Planting abundantly watered and always mulch for the winter.

2. Brunner

Brunner can grow in one place for 15 years or more. But if you want to propagate it, this can be done in spring or autumn. Autumn division has an advantage because cool, wet weather is the best time for new roots to grow.

The rhizomes of Brunner are located close to the surface, it is enough to cut a few delenki on the periphery of the bush with a shovel and transplant to a new place in the soil seasoned with humus. New plantings require watering if the weather is dry.

It is better to dig out the old bush completely, separate the young parts of the rhizome with several buds, and simply discard the old parts.

Oddly enough, varietal large-leaf brunners are less demanding on the composition of the soil. The Siberian Brunner species prefers moist clay soil with a slightly acidic reaction in partial shade.

3. Phlox

Phlox is only divided over 5 years old, do it no later than mid-September. It can be shared with or without a dig. When dividing without digging, only part of the bush is separated and divided so that on each divide there are 5-6 shoots. Add the nutrient mixture to the old part.

When dividing with a dig, carefully scoop up a bush, trying to maintain a lump and divide it with a sharp shovel into parts, also leaving 5-6 shoots on each divide. If you need a lot of planting material at once, you can divide it even smaller, but in this case, the flowering will be delayed by 2-3 years.

Phloxes are very plastic and can be divided even in a flowering state, but before planting, the delenoks need to remove inflorescences and shorten the stems by half. Planting delenki need to be in fertile soil in the sun, the first time to water and mulch to preserve moisture.

For more details on what phloxes are, read the article Phlox in garden design - use and classification.

4. Daylilies

Division without digging is the most gentle and least risky way of dividing daylilies. It is almost impossible to destroy a plant in this way, because part of the old bush remains in place and receives fresh fertile soil and a place for growth. And the separated parts are moved to a new place with a lump of land.

This is done as follows: visually determine the place where the rosettes of leaves form a gap, and with a sharpened shovel we cut the bush in this place. We dig out with a lump the part intended for transplantation. Sprinkle the slice with crushed coal, fill the earth with a fertile mixture: peat, humus and sand in a ratio of 1: 1: 1 + superphosphate or autumn fertilizer, if you have not yet fertilized daylily.

The separated part (or parts) are planted with a lump in a prepared place. Pits for daylilies should be made larger, for example, 50x50, because they can grow in one place with adequate care from 5 to 10 years, and fill them with a nutrient mixture with fertilizer.

The division of bushes with a full excavation is better to transfer to the spring, while the damage is greater, and daylily will need more time to adapt.

Important: do not deepen the root neck of daylily, otherwise it will not bloom!

Too small delineations of daylilies - with one rosette of leaves, most likely will not bloom next year. Therefore, if you want to quickly get flowering bushes in a new place, do not divide the daylily too finely, it is better that the deletions have 2-3 outlets.

5. Hosts

Hosts in the fall are divided in the same way as daylilies - without digging and later than a month before the first frosts.

6. Black cohosh

Black cohosh are divided at the very beginning of autumn, it is better without digging, otherwise the bush may freeze in winter. A sharp shovel cuts off part of the bush with 3–4 shoots and planted in a new place in partial shade with fertile soil, mulch with peat or humus. If the autumn is dry, you must carefully monitor the moisture of the soil, preventing its drying out. In winter, new plantings are best covered with spruce branches.

7. Badan

Buds should be divided every 5-6 years, otherwise the middle of the bush is exposed, the old parts of the rhizome die off and the leaves grow only on the periphery. Dig up the rhizome, with a sharp knife cut the young parts with the kidneys into several parts, and discard the old parts without buds and leaves.

Planted in a new place in partial shade on previously prepared soil. For each m², two buckets of humus and half a glass of autumn fertilizer are added to it. The distance between the divisions is 40 cm. At first, they are watered abundantly.

Badan can be planted in the sun, but then it will require more frequent watering.

8. The center

Dicenters do not like transplants, but they divide them every 5-7 years, otherwise the rhizome grows, and the plant may simply disappear. Work must be done with rubber gloves, the center is a poisonous plant, its juice has a nerve-paralytic effect.

The rhizomes of the dicentra are very fragile, so you need to dig out the forks, very carefully. After digging, also rinse carefully and put on a tidy so that you can not be afraid of breaks in inappropriate places.

Then the rhizome is divided into segments of 8-12 cm with 3 to 4 buds and planted in a prepared place in partial shade with fertile soil of a slightly acidic reaction and mulched.

9. Purchased

Buyers divide quite often - once every three years, because their rhizome grows quite quickly and shoots are formed only on the periphery, and the center of the bush remains bare. The rhizome is shallow and the process of digging and dividing is reminiscent of irises, but much more small suction roots are bought.

Each dividend should have 3-4 kidney renewal. Kupena is a rather unpretentious plant and does not require special care. But in nature, it grows on moist, fertile forest soils and will expect the same from you.

Kupena is an ideal plant for shade, in the sun it will burn and wither. And although she needs enough moisture, she does not tolerate excessive and stagnant moisture.

10. The liver

The liver function should be divided no later than the first decade of September. Share it every 4-5 years. The bushes are carefully dug up, washed and divided into parts with 2–3 kidneys.

The soil is fertile, coniferous-leaf with the addition of sand, in the shade. The liverwort is a tender but persistent plant. But still, after dividing, it is necessary to show maximum attention to it: to mulch the plantings and prevent their overdrying.

11. Iris

Sharing irises is easy and enjoyable. Even a child can handle this. Their rhizomes are located directly on the surface, it is enough to pry a little with a pitchfork or a shovel and you can gently pull them out.

After excavating the rhizomes, they examine, cut off the old, without roots and leaves, dead and unhealthy parts, sprinkling the slices with crushed coal or ash. For this purpose, I take the crumbs left in the charcoal bag for barbecue. If the crumb is too large, it must be further crushed. You can sprinkle with ash.

The suction roots are cut to a healthy tissue or a length of 10 cm. The fan of the leaves is cut off with a “house” so that water does not get into the bush at a height of 10-20 cm. This will reduce evaporation and accelerate survival.

If the leaves are healthy, they can be sent to compost, and rhizome trimmings must be burned. The prepared delenki are dried in the sun for several days and planted in a constant place with an interval of 40-60 cm so that the back of the delenka looks north, and the thick rhizome is completely illuminated by the sun.

First, a shallow oblong pit is made, then a roller of earth is poured in the middle, a rhizome is placed on it, and the roots are spread on the sides, covered with earth and watered.

The soil needs to be prepared in advance: for each square meter of earth we add one or two buckets of humus, a bucket of sand, a couple of glasses of ash and half a glass of superphosphate or autumn fertilizer. The place should be as sunny as possible. In partial shade, irises will perfectly develop, but not bloom badly or not at all.

For details on what irises are, read the article Irises in the Garden - Classification and Use in Design.

12. Verbeynik

Verbeynik can be divided at any time, including in the fall. It is not necessary to dig out the whole bush, it is enough to separate the peripheral parts with a sharp shovel and pour in their place and in the center of the curtain of fresh soil.

New plantings must be kept moist.

13. Heicher and Heicherella

Geicheri and heicherells are very easy to share and take root well. Separate the delenka with 2–3 rosettes with a sharp spatula, dip the root powder into the powder, if the roots were broken during the division, and plant it in a new place. Your only concern is that the soil does not dry out.

14. Perennial rudbeckia

They divide after full flowering, late in the fall, when leaves are already falling from the trees. It is safer to propagate by seeds, but there are two problems: they quickly lose their germination capacity, so it is better to sow them immediately after harvesting in the winter and, if you collect seeds from your bushes, you cannot guarantee the purity of the variety due to cross-pollination.

Therefore, if you want to keep a clean variety, you must carefully dig a bush of 3–4 years of age and divide it into parts with 2–3 outlets. Do not grind, small sockets will take root worse and bloom soon. Given that rudbeckia is a “youngster,” it needs to be updated and may fall in the winter - this is not in our interests. It is better to get 2-3 fully developed shrubs than 10 small delenki.

15. Echinacea

Echinacea is propagated by division in the fall according to the same rules as rudbeckia.

16. Peony

Peony is one of the plants that is not so easy to separate, but autumn division is optimal. In the spring, the bush takes root worse and generally develops longer.

I myself am not a big specialist in this business, because I shared peonies only a few times. They can grow in one place for decades, and there is no point in disturbing them unnecessarily. And to dig a powerful rhizome without damage is not so simple. In any case, it is not necessary to divide peonies more often than once every 5 years.

The rhizome is carefully dug out, washed, slightly dried and divided into parts with 2–3 kidneys of renewal. The leaves are cut, leaving stumps 10-15 cm. Old, rotten and damaged roots are cut and thrown away, the sections are sprinkled with crushed charcoal. Before planting the rhizomes, it is good to hold it a little in a solution of potassium permanganate.

They dig a deep hole, not less than 50 by 50 cm, it is better to prepare it in advance. They make up fertile soil from humus, peat, sand and garden, turf or leafy soil (1: 1: 1: 1). Season it with a couple of glasses of ash and mix well.

At the bottom, drainage is made from pebbles or broken shards, a little prepared mixture is poured, then a glass of superphosphate or autumn fertilizer, then another layer of the mixture and rammed. Then put the rhizome of the peony and fill it with the rest of the mixture so that the kidneys are 3-5 cm (but no more!) Below the soil level, and well watered. At the same time, make sure that the rhizome does not "pull" deep into.

Fertilizers are placed at the bottom of the pit to stimulate the peony to develop deep roots, which makes it practically immune to drought and frost. If fertilizers are added to the surface layer of the earth, it will build up a smaller and wider root system and suffer from a lack of moisture during drought. And such bushes grow old earlier, because over time the rhizome grows and becomes closer to the surface. For the same reason, peony should be watered rarely, but abundantly.

17. Geranium

Garden geraniums take root very easily (it’s strange for me to read from article to article that they don’t like transplants). Usually they are planted with a curtain, so they dig a selected area in partial shade and make a pair of humus buckets per square meter for digging. If the earth is heavy, sand must also be added.

There are a lot of types of geraniums, and since they have different requirements for moisture and soil structure, it is better to check the conditions for each particular species. In some, as in large-rhizome, the rhizome is creeping, in others - as in the meadow - it is a bush. Creeping rhizomes are divided into parts with a rosette of leaves and buds on each, the old parts are thrown away. The bush is divided with a knife or hands, the roots of geraniums are not very powerful.

Rhizomes are laid out on the surface and sprinkled with earth. Delenki planted in pits slightly larger than the size of the root system, at the bottom of which a spoonful of superphosphate or autumn fertilizer is poured.

18. Stonecrops

Stonecrops can be propagated at any time, they are very easily rooted, especially creeping forms. But once every 4-6 years, this must be done. At the sedum, caustic, false, etc. ground cover species, shoots with subordinate roots are separated, laid out on the surface of loose soil and sprinkled with earth so that the top of the shoot is above the surface.

Shrub stonecrops are divided into parts with several shoots and planted in pits twice as large as a root coma with a nutrient mixture prepared from ordinary garden soil, sand and humus in a 1: 1: 1 ratio with the addition of a good portion of wood ash. Additional fertilizers do not need to be added.

Plantings moisturize and try to prevent the earth from drying out during the rooting period, which lasts 2-3 weeks. Stonecrops must be planted at least a month before the onset of cold weather.

19. Goryanka

Goryanka, unfortunately, is still not very common plants in our country. This is an ideal ground cover plant that practically does not get sick, preserves winter-green leaves, which are updated in May-June, and even blooms with elegant small flowers in spring.

Goryanka grows in one place for 10 years or more, but if you want to propagate them, you can carefully divide the rhizomes (the division sites are clearly visible in the fall) and plant them in freshly prepared soil with the addition of humus in partial shade.

Goryanka can be planted in the near-tree circle of an apple tree; it will not compete with a tree. An important condition is to maintain soil moisture without waterlogging.

20. Moroznik

Moroznik is a long-lived plant, can grow in one place up to 25 years old, does not like transplantation. But if you want to propagate it, now is the right time. You can carefully divide the bush without digging, as described for daylilies, or carefully dig it out completely, rinse the roots and share with a sharp knife.

Delenka should have 2-3 kidneys. Also, the beginning of autumn is a good time for transplanting hellebore seedlings to a permanent place. In connection with the rapid loss of germination of seeds, seed propagation is difficult, but hellebores perfectly reproduce by self-sowing.

Seedlings carefully dig up with a lump of earth and transplanted into soddy soil with a slightly alkaline or neutral reaction.Morozniks are excellent groundcover plants for tree-trunk circles of fruit trees.

Do not forget to wear rubber gloves - hellebore is poisonous!