Perennial Exchange – FREE

May 18,  6:30 pm – 8:00 pm

All gardeners great and small are welcome to the 29th Perennial Exchange, on the Second Avenue steps of the Glebe CC.

Bring your extra plants, seeds and compost to exchange, as well as your ideas.  If you don’t have anything to share this time, come anyway, there is always extra to go around.

Facilitator: Jennie Aliman

How to divide and transfer perennials
Ideally transplanting is done when the plant has finished flowering. The goal is to dig up the entire clump of the parent plant, lifting it out with most of its roots intact. Use a sharp spade, garden fork or garden knife to carefully divide the roots. In many cases, once you loosen the soil or wash it away from the root ball, natural divisions become clear, and some plants will even fall apart on their own.

A good rule of thumb to remember when dividing plants is that the optimal size of a division is about one-quarter the size of the original root ball. Pieces this size are big enough to re-establish themselves quickly and small enough to not require division again for a while.

When planting the newly divided plants, use fresh soil, plant them in holes at least as wide as the roots and water them frequently until established. Their roots are damaged during the dividing and replanting so watering is key to ensuring your transplant thrives. Do not divide perennials during periods of drought or on extremely sunny or warm days. Ideally, perennials should be divided in the morning or on an overcast day when light rain is in the forecast.