Iris help

How do I divide and transplant. I've dug out huge chunks and I'm guessing I break off/cut off anything questionable and keep the nice piece with the leaf fan? I am wanting to get the from our previous home (which is STILL on the market) and transplant them to our current.

ive read basically how, one even suggested a dip in bleach water. any other tips? I know nothign abotu flowers, but I think these are bearded cause that sounds familiar from when my mother in law put them in when my brother in law/sister in law lived there before us.

So I have them, now what? wats the spacing?

Most irises are VERY tough, but they can have problems with root rot - hence the bleach dip. Most of the time, with bearded irises, you can just lay them out to dry a few hours (or a few minutes if it's really hot out) after cutting or breaking into pieces. I try to have at least 1 or 2 fans of leaves attached to a good chunk of rhizome. I have never dipped the cut or broken end and I've never had problems, but I don't have super fancy irises, either.

I am a "lazy" gardener and I just dig everything I'm going to dig, break it up however it wants to break, and slap it right back in the ground. Remember to not put it too deep, the rhizomes like to almost lay on the surface. I plant them just deep enough to hold the plant in place. I DO ALWAYS trim the tops down to about 6 inches tall so there is less leaf surface for the disturbed roots to support.

As for spacing, that depends on the size of the variety you have. If the plant gets 2 feet tall, you can put the plants closer together, maybe 12-15" apart. For really tall irises, most recommend going about 18" apart or so. It also depends on how quick you want them to fill in, how big a chunk of rhizome you have, etc. Remember that they will tend to grow away from the cut/broken end and toward the leaf end, so take that into account when you plant them. Don't place them close to something else and "aim" the leaf end that direction. The iris will eventually grow right into the other plant.

Not very proper or scientific, but my experience in a nutshell. This info applies only to bearded irises (these are the ones with the fuzzy "beard" near the base of the drooping petals), so if you have another species, keep in mind that some need very different care.

Google "irises" and take a look around to figure out what kind you have. If they are tall and growing in the ground, look at "bearded iris" and "Louisiana iris" as well as "Japanese iris" and "Siberian iris". If they are short, look for "dwarf iris".

Hope this helps some.

In a previous thread I posted a link on Iris how-to Click here.. +1 What Sharon said. Iris are quite sturdy and can be very forgiving. Iris are so lovely. Good luck!

thats the post i was looking for!!! But I searched and it never came up

LOL, I was having a hard time finding it too. I scrolled through my posts until I found it. Good luck with those Iris.

well, they are all broken apart, and drying out some. some are mush, so trash, I found a grubby like thing in one (BARF). I just gotta trim the tops and plant plant plant!

Hm. I am extremely unscientific about irises. When they start growing in a ring pattern (the stems come up in a ring with an empty "center" in the middle... ring about a foot across or so), I dig them up, whack them apart with my shovel along the lines of least resistance, and put them back in the ground again, just barely covered.

how/can I do this? Where I want to plant them there are an incredible amount of weeds, that no amount of pulling can help. So, weed barrier went down, Ive planted a knock out bush in the area and have a ton of divided up irises that I would like to also plant, but I'm not sure how to with weed barrier present. HELP.

If it helps they are a bearded type I believe.

If it were my garden, I would stay away from the weed barrier, dig everything out, amend the soil w/ peat, vermiculite, manure, bone meal, dried blood and compost. Plant the area and mulch. It is certainly a lot of work but if the garden area is prepped well, it should last for years.

I forgot to add, check soil pH, add lime as necessary. perennial garden prep

camprn wrote:If it were my garden, I would stay away from the weed barrier, dig everything out, amend the soil w/ peat, vermiculite, manure, bone meal, dried blood and compost. Plant the area and mulch. It is certainly a lot of work but if the garden area is prepped well, it should last for years.

I've already dug everything out and amended. I did this with another bed last year and the weeds are crazy, I think it is just this area (or my neighbor ). I feel like I am yanking and pulling EVERYDAY! And I dont have time for that ya know?

Ahh it can never be simple. free flowers and they may not work

Maybe just make a small nursery bed for this year to plunk your iris into. Round up & black plastic the area for the next 6 weeks? then late summer early fall plant into the bed, or maybe in the spring, but that is such a busy time.