Dividing Heuchera for a New Garden
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- November
- 17
This fall, we had to take down a couple of big scraggly spruce trees that were too close to the house, especially after a renovation project that raised the roof line right by the trees.
Rather than fooling with digging up the stumps and making a mess of the whole yard, I’ve decided, at least for now, to live with the leftover roots and make a new garden of sorts.
Here’s the space for my new root garden.
And a view from above, with the stump and water for the birds.
To quickly get some low-growing plants in there before winter, I decided to dig up a few perennials and divide them.
This heuchera (coral bells) hasn’t done very well for a couple of years so I figured it needed to be dug up and divided.
Sure enough, it was covered with little babies ready for separation from the main plant. You just have to divide and pull them apart, making sure you’ve got some roots attached to each new one.
From the one heuchera, I was able to make something like 14 new plants.
Here’s a closeup.
And in the ground, ready to grow.
Next up, a tiarella that I knew would yield several new plants.
A fuzzy closeup.
So now I should have at least a few plants coming up in my new root garden next spring.
I’m off for a few days, until after Thanksgiving (with all those yummy root vegetables). Happy Thanksgiving to all.
This entry was posted
on Saturday, November 17th, 2007 at 8:35 am by Bill Cary.
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Bill Cary grew up in Louisville, Ky. His gardening was limited to growing parsley and impatiens on the windowsill of Manhattan walkups until the mid-1990s when he bought a rundown old chicken farm on 8 acres in the Hudson Valley. Now he spends his weekends chasing deer, hacking away at invasive shrubs and vines and wondering why he doesn`t have more meadow and less lawn.
Hi Bill,
Using heuchera and tiarella divisions to disguise the stump and root mass left after tree removal is very clever and cost effective. But have you had any luck with shade plants that have to live in the midst of live tree roots? I’ve found that epimediums can survive and slowly increase in that dry environment. Any other suggestions?
Hi George. Nice to have seen you at the Marco Polo Stufano lecture. Epimediums would certainly be a good bet. Have you tried toad lilies, though they may want more moisture than such a site would offer?
When in doubt, I’ve always had great success with vinca in any kind of shade.
Bill and George,
Wild ginger (Asarum canadense)- our native ginger – grows well for me under the shade and roots of (I hate to say, but these huge trees were there when I moved in) Norway maples.
Please, anyone who reads this, NEVER plant Norway maple or its cultivars. It is extremely invasive and you will spend your spring ripping up countless seedlings.
I’ve also had luck with American goatsbeard (Aruncus dioicus) although it is supposed to like a moister spot.
Bill,
I forgot to say that the heuchera and tiarella idea around tree stumps is a great idea. I can’t wait to see the pictures in the spring.