More tips for the continuing hot weather:
- Cut back Iris pond plant foliage to 6" above usual water level once flowered.
- Tall leaves use up a lot of water so reduce their height to reduce the load on the pond's limited water resources.
- Do not cut back plants that are still in flower as still provide nectar and pollen for bees and butterflies.
- Leave a 6" stem height on the plant leaf for dragonflies to climb up to leave the pond.
- The central shoot of the leaf will regrow but the bulk of tall stems will be reduced and save water loss.
- Tall Iris before splitting and cutting down
- Iris after cutting down, splitting and repotting
Take this opportunity to split some of your established pond Iris baskets too:
- Remove some of the bulk you no longer need in the water when you split.
- Don't divide all Iris in same year but spread out across 3 years
- After flowering divide the big clumps into sections.
- Throw away the old central area that looks like bare rhizome with few leaves on it.
- Repot the leafing rhizomes & cut down leaf growth height
- Use mesh baskets and aquatic soil
- Set the plant back on a shallow pond shelf until rooted
- Lower rooted basket to its final position in September to protect from Winter cold.