Gardening with iris is simple and nearly foolproof

Q: When we inherited this home, we had a lot of places that were planted with iris. Since we’re back in the house and the landscaping has been taken care of, we noticed that the iris beds aren’t/didn’t grow as well as I remember them doing. Is there anything we need to do for them to get them thriving once more? — G.H., Albuquerque

A: Growing iris, especially in these parts, is a fairly simple and near foolproof way to garden. It sounds like the iris beds haven’t been fussed with for a couple of years and the project you’re facing is involved, but to me, one of the most enjoyable ones in the gardening world. What you get to do is a process called reheeling the beds.

Here’s what you’ll need supply wise. A pitchfork, a tarp, a pair of sharp, clean pair of gardening scissors, a shady spot in which to work, a small bag of dusting sulfur, a pair of disposable plastic gloves, a big paper grocery bag, a couple of cardboard beer flats or trays, a bag of either super phosphate or bone meal, and patience.

First lay the tarp near the clump of iris you’ve decided to work on. Using the pitchfork, encircling the bed, impale the ground surrounding that bed, applying a lifting motion to get the clump separated from the ground. Fork them up with enough of a margin so you aren’t stabbing or injuring any of the iris. Set the lifted clump on the tarp, soil and all, and move to the shade. Don’t ever leave the clump sitting in the hot sun for any period of time.

Next, you’ll start to determinedly separate the clumps from the soil. Using your fingers, wiggle as much of the garden’s soil off the iris. Keep the soil gathered because you’re going to pour it back into the bed the iris just came from once you’ve gotten it off. If the irises seem to break apart from one another, don’t worry, that’s good, actually.

Now you should have a bunch of naked iris rhizomes. Inspecting and separating comes next. Holding a smallish bunch, decide where you can literally snap them apart. If they don’t snap apart, use the sharp scissors to make clean cuts, but usually they will snap apart. You’ll want each plant to have a white “foot” that has stringy roots coming off it, along with some green strap leaves making the balance of each plant or rhizome. One bunch of cleaned up iris can easily become three when you look at them properly.

Set the divided iris on the cardboard flat and continue with the next bunch until you’ve worked through the whole lot. While separating, if you run into any squishy, gross pieces, set them in a different flat to dispose of them when you’re done. If you find any grubs or icky things, set them into the disposal flat too. Once you’re done with the separating, snapping apart process, allow the gleaned iris a chance to rest.

Next you’ll want to trim down the strap leaves. Traditionally, you cut the leaves so they look like an arrow pointing up. You’ll want to leave enough of the leaves so each rhizome is showing green leaves. Don’t take the leaves down to the top of the white foot.

Donning the plastic gloves, pour some of the dusting sulfur into the large paper bag. This stuff stinks and you don’t want to do this in a windy area. Once some of the dusting sulfur is in the bag, gather several of the gleaned, leaf-trimmed iris, place them in the bag and give them a good shake. Your goal is to coat the iris with the dusting sulfur. Take that lot of coated irises out of the bag and set them on a dry flat. Do this process until all the gleaned iris have been coated, adding more sulfur to the bag if necessary, so everyone gets a good coating.

Now, get all the soil that was dislodged from the clump and pour it back into the bed area. Sprinkle the bone meal or super phosphate over the area and using the pitchfork give that area a good turning, watching out for grubs and any sticks or stones that should be removed. Now you are ready to replant the iris.

Your goal is to set each plant so the white foot with the stringy roots is set and covered just below ground level, leaving the green strap leaves above ground. Not too deep — just deep enough to keep the iris in the ground — and certainly not too shallow. Once all the iris you’ve gathered have been planted, give the bed a gentle watering, sprinkling enough to settle everybody. More than likely you’ll have extra, so to speak, so you now have the choice to start another bed or give those away to other gardeners you know.

Just remember to never store the rhizomes in plastic bags, and certainly don’t allow them to sit in the hot sun (or a hot car) for an extended period of time. The process of reheeling a bed of iris is a bit of work, but your rewards next spring will be well worth it in the long run.

Happy Diggin’ In while you are refreshing those iris beds!

Tracey Fitzgibbon is a certified nurseryman. Send garden-related questions to Digging In, Albuquerque Journal, 7777 Jefferson St. NE, Albuquerque, N.M. 87109, or to features@abqjournal.com.