Divide moist loving Iris sibirica clumps:
- Lift and divide clumps after flowering is finished
- Discard the central sparse sections.
- Split the remaining clump into large sections.
- Replace the areas of the clump with plenty of shoots back into the soil with additional compost from the garden compost heap to replenish the nutrients recently used in flowering.
- Doing this now allows the plant to root down well and recover before Winter.
Do not divide every clump of Iris in the same year so that you have a rotation system going on.
Pond Iris on marginal pond shelf:
- Divide once they have flowered
- Do some every year in a 3 year rotation system.
- Leave some emergent pond Iris untouched so some will be of value to dragonfly and damselfly larvae.
- They use these leaves to climb up when they are emerging from the pond to become adults.
- Cut down in height so that they will re-establish more quickly.
Water Iris in a container pond:
- If this has outgrown the basket it can be divided in the same way
- Discard older sections or make a second basket to sit in another position in the support grid.
For more details on how to divide a Water Iris please see our Tips and Advice page.