Divide Pond Iris plants now from a marginal pond shelf:
- Divide pond Iris plants straight after they have flowered.
- Some Iris clumps may need cutting apart with a knife
- Have new mesh baskets and clay soil ready.
- Use the largest basket you have space for so there is good weight at the base to keep the mature Iris group stable.
- Do not cut & divide too small - 2-3 growth heads per new section.
- Cut down in height to 15cm/6" above water surface level when they go back into the pond shelf.
- They will re-establish more quickly with less leaf growth.
- Add a Feed balls for Aquatic plants to encourage regrowth and flowering next year.
- Firm the cay soil down well and place in the pond on the top shelf until roots appear through the mesh basket.
- Doing this now should produce a rooted plant before Winter.
- When rooted lower if necessary to the correct depth of shelf.
- Do not divide every clump of Iris in the same year - spread across 3 years in rotation.
- Leaving some upright growth on pond Iris allows dragonfly and damselfly larvae to use these leaves to climb up when they emerge from the pond to become adults.
Iris in a container pond:
- If this container pond Iris has outgrown the basket divide it in the same way as above
- Discard older sections or make a second basket to sit in another position in the support grid.
For more details on how to divide pond Iris plants please see our Tips and Advice page - Plant Propagation
Divide moist loving Iris sibirica or Iris ensata clumps too:
- Lift and divide clumps after flowering is finished
- Discard the sparse central area.
- Split the remaining clump into large sections.
- Cut down in height for stability.
- Replace the areas of the clump with plenty of shoots into the soil.
- Add 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.