Frank's Garden Talk: Iris Dividing and Care

I have found that after a few years you get what you paid for with planting irises ten-fold. It's just the dividing process that deter a lot of gardeners that are a little unwilling to maintain their responsibility with maintenance of this perennial with big returns.
I like to divide irises either in early spring or fall. I divide 4 over-grown patches about a foot and a half in diameter and that was a task. It's such a great reward to me because you have so many off shoots for other plantings and little seedlings as well that you will find yourself giving them away (which i did).

For starters: The following two pictures show iris patches in need of dividing. When I dug them up, it confirmed my suspicion of overcrowding.

The following pictures is what an Iris that is too the point of neglect and never divided. Notice how the rhizome looks like one long turd. This will cause the plant to refuse to flower and slowly just wither away.

I just snapped off most of the long rhizome and in following picture is what you should be left with before replanting.

Below is what a healthy iris patch should look like. Exposed tubers are a necessity for warmth from the sun and where root systems can spread out. They should not be planted in an area where it's extremely wet or moist, contrary popular to belief. Spacing should be at a foot apart. This might seem excessive but in a few years you will see how much they spread out!

To get started., get a good garden shovel and dig around the whole iris patch and properly lift it in its entirety from the ground. This is when you have to take the gloves off and start gently breaking apart the existing clump, tuber by tuber. Imagine a bunch of small elongated potatoes intertwined and getting them separated as whole as possible.

This is what a properly divided iris patch should look after dividing.

Some of the iris rhizomes should be exposed and always facing towards where it will get the most sun.