Care for perennials: The 3 biggest mistakes
The perennials in the garden do not feel really well?
If you avoid these mistakes in planting and care, you will enjoy the beauties for a long time.
Perennials decorate the garden for many years - provided they are placed and cared for correctly
with their wonderful variety of shapes and colors, perennials will shape a garden for many years to come.
Among the classic magnificent perennials are coneflower, larkspur and yarrow.
But perennial herbaceous plants do not always develop as well as hoped.
Then it could be due to these mistakes.
Mistake 1: The perennials are not divided
In order to keep them flowering and growing vigorously, many splendid perennials in the bed must be divided every few years.
If you forget this care measure, the growth strength will decrease,
the flower formation will be less and less and the clumps will become bald in the middle.
Short-lived perennials such as feathered carnation (Dianthus plumarius) or girl's eye (Coreopsis) age particularly quickly.
They should be spade every two to three years, the rootstock divided and the parts replanted.
Also prairie-perennials like Indian-nettle (Monarda) and purple-sunhat (Echinacea) age quite fast on poorer, sandy grounds.
As a rule of thumb, summer and autumn flowering plants are divided in spring,
spring and early summer flowering plants directly after flowering.
Mistake 2: Regular soil loosening with hoe
As part of perennial care, it is always recommended that the soil be regularly tilled with a hoe.
By repeatedly loosening the surface, silting up and incrustation
is prevented - this should allow the roots to better access water and nutrients.
However, deep hoeing between the perennials damages the roots: the bedding does not become dense.
In the perennial bed, it is therefore better to limit care to regular weeding.
This is especially important after planting the perennials: otherwise,
stubborn wild herbs can quickly crowd the perennials and, in the worst case, even overgrow them.
Mistake 3: Ignore the life areas
For perennials, one thing is particularly true: the perennial plants will only develop
healthily over many years if they are provided with suitable site conditions at their location.
The less you take their needs into account, the more expensive the care is and the quicker you have to replant them.
When choosing perennials, one should therefore always consider the living areas
such as woody (G), woody edge (GR), open space (FR), stone planting (ST),
bedding (B), water edge (WR) and water (W). The supplementary numbers indicate
the required soil moisture: Dry (1), fresh (2) and moist (3). Woody and woody
border perennials such as Funkien (Hosta) and Elfenblumen (Epimedium) must not
be too sunny and dry, rock garden plants such as blue cushion (Aubrieta) and
stonewort (Alyssum) must not be too shady and moist.
Many perennial species only remain flowering and vital if they are regularly divided.
A great side effect: you get a lot of new plants.
Division is the easiest way to propagate perennials. Regularly divided plants remain flowering and vital
the spring months are a good time to share perennials.
Plants whose flowering has diminished over the years, or whose middle has become barren,
are rejuvenated by splitting, they become flowering again and remain vigorous.
And, by the way, you get a lot of new plants by sharing,
which you can plant yourself or give away to your neighbors.
When should you share perennials?
Although the spring months are particularly suitable for dividing perennials,
as the plants grow quickly, it is not advisable to use a spade for all perennials in spring.
To avoid mistakes in perennial care, the following rule of thumb applies:
in early spring, divide the summer and autumn flowering perennials.
These will then already have stored the nutrients that are needed for the coming growth period.
Spring and early summer bloomers that have withered
before St. John's Day are best divided immediately after flowering.
Share perennials: The most important things at a glance
To keep perennials flowering and vital, they should be divided every few years.
At the latest when the plants become overgrown, it is time to take up a spade.
In spring, all summer and autumn flowering perennials should be divided.
Directly after flowering is the best time to divide spring and early summer flowering perennials.
Prick out the root ball of the perennial generously,
remove diseased and dry root parts as well as, if necessary, glabrous parts.
Then divide the perennial into at least hand-sized pieces,
put the individual parts back in place and water well at the end.
A nice side effect is that the perennial is propagated simultaneously.
How to share perennials in spring?
Prick the spade or digging fork into the soil around the rootstock and move the tool
back and forth several times to loosen the root ball. For perennials with a compact
root system, split the root ball with a sharp spade blade, a large knife or a saw.
The cuttings should have at least two shoot buds and be about the size of a fist -
small cuttings usually sprout more vigorously and grow into strong plants faster
than large cuttings. In species with a loose root system, such as sunflower
(Helenium hybrids) and smooth leaf aster (Aster novi-belgii), the root system can
be easily broken up by hand. Always remove the diseased and dried root parts and the glabrous middle of the perennial.
The elf flower (epimedium), thanks to its loose root system, can be easily picked up by hand
Of course, perennials do not need to be rejuvenated every year. Growth behavior
and life span determine the time. Short-lived perennials such as girl's eye, feather
carnations or horned violets age quickly and should be divided after two to three
years. In the fourth year, early summer asters, purple bells, lupins and burning
love are divided. Long-lived species such as larkspur, bearded iris, peony, watery
heart and troll flower only become really beautiful with time. They should be
allowed to grow undisturbed, frequent sharing or transplanting is usually not a good idea.
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