Spring Garden Tips

1.  Divide and transplant

A plant with a dead center or a lack of blooms last year may indicate that it needs to be divided. Divide when new growth emerges.

A.     But which plants?

Summer and fall blooming perennials such as asters, liatris, garden phlox, Echinacea and ornamental grasses are all good candidates for spring division

B.     How do I do it?

Use a sharp shovel to dig out plant with as much of the root system as possible.

Remove some of the soil from the root ball and pull or chop into sections that include both roots and stems.

Replant and/or share with a friend or neighbor and water thoroughly.

2.  Address your shrubs

Cut back woody perennials and subshrubs to within a few inches of the ground. Good candidates for this treatment include Russian sage, blue mist spirea, rabbit brush and most woody sages.

Prune all shrubs of dead, diseased and broken branches. Discard of any diseased plant material in the garbage not the compost and clean any garden tools with diluted bleach to deter disease transfer to other plants.

 3.  Install plant supports before they need them

Install wire, bamboo or other plant supports on tall, lanky and trailing perennials such as peonies, delphinium, clematis, catmint, garden phlox, foxglove and yarrow.