Propagating and Splitting Perennial Strawberries, Mint and Iris

Tips, Tricks

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This time of year I know as a gardener I am eagerly awaiting my last frost date. In anticipation of this wonderful milestone in the growing season it’s a great time to move and propagate perennials in your garden. Today I am going to be moving some of my strawberries, mint and Iris. Strawberries I will be moving most of my strawberries from this bed and moving them to the perimeter garden to finish off my perennial orchard and make room for my permanent winter garden as currently the strawberry bed gets slightly more direct sun light during the long winter months. Moving strawberries is quite easy. I usually wait until the soil is workable and the plants are beginning to grow. Moving strawberries too early can damage the roots when they cannot react and later in the season you may sacrifice this year’s crop. I then take a trusty sod cutter and excavate around them taking as much of the soil around them as you can. You can remove the soil if you wish however leaving it in place will help reduce the transplant shock. In the new area make sure the soil is rich and lose and drains well. Strawberries produce the best when the soil is slightly acidic average pH of 6 works best. This makes them great companion ground covers for blueberries and grapes that also do best in acidic soils. In the new location spread the plants out and dig a hole roughly the same size as the soil ball. Plant and make sure the soil is in good contact with the root ball. Match the soil level of the root ball with the soil around it. Over the summer the strawberries will send runners that will become new plants filling in the bed. Check us out on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/stephenlegaree14 Webpage: www.albertaurbangarden.ca Google +: google.com/+StephenLegaree Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AlbertaUrbanGarden Twitter: https://twitter.com/northern1485 Pintrest: http://www.pinterest.com/ABurbanGarden/

Comments

You can also experiment with growing Corsican mint as an annual, it's only about one inch high so the roots won't bother nearby plants as much, they can reseed in the years to come. Here's a link of the plant.

https://www.mountainvalleygrowers.com/menrequieniicorsican.htm

hi, i love iris too but i haven't planted any as being poisonous concerns me.
do you mulch the dead leaves. actually as i'm writing this, i realized i don't know which part of the iris is poisonous.

great video I have a bunch of strawberries that are doing beautiful. I plant my mint around the barn to discourage any possible rodents on our farm. - Ruthie

Thanks for sharing! Looks like I did it right for the irises.
Last frost just two weeks from now,but will wait for the new moon in June to plant my tomatoes outside.

:) nice

If you leave your containers, with the mints in them, outside over winter they will die in the container. Lesson learned this last year in my garden.

I am trying to grow a mint yard...just cut off some of the plant, stick in a pot and it will root in no time to get some as a starter yard :)

I just watched RobBobs update and its amazing to see the difference in climates and seasons from different parts of the world. It looks like its still late winter there in Canada, while here in Oregon its full on spring time! Thank you for posting!

Nice! I just bought my first strawberry plant. I'll be splitting it in the fall. Thanks for another great video.

I've been busy doing much of this too. :) It looks like you are on your way to warming up!

Great video Stephen! A good reminder to split my irises while I am working around where they are growing. I am looking forward to get more strawberries this year. I am rooting a mint to plant somewhere in my garden.

I'm going to try that with the strawberries under my blueberries! Thanks! And I think your iris thank you, too, with that dividing and replanting. : )

Your constant companion "Mic-ky" looks a little unloved... perhaps some bright fuzzy hair and googly eyes might give the poor little fella some inclusion ;-D

@ 1:00 "Sod cutter" I love that term... sounds like you're referring to the most valued tool in a sewer worker's kit :-)

Our strawberry plants do really well here... Sadly the birds that eat them do even better... LOL... Chris :-)

Thank you Stephen for that interesting advice on Perennials and splitting and moving them.

I had no idea you could move irises in the spring, I have always been told that you could only move them after they had bloomed. I can see now the reason why though, most people wouldn't want to miss a year of blooms just so they could move them somewhere else. Thanks for the tip Steven, I will keep it in mind next time I need to move some of mine to a new spot.

Excellent tips on propagating perennials, Stephen!

Thanks for the great info my friend!

Another method for managing mint is to plant it into a large container (make sure there are wholes in the bottom for drainage) and sink the whole container into the garden bed. It works and keeps the mint under control. Thanks for this video Stephen!

Now I want to add mint to my blueberry plants!

Good job, my friend!