Getting more bang for your buck!

Dividing Sedum 'Lemon Coral'

When shopping for perennials, it’s usually more economical to buy the smallest container available.  However sometimes that isn’t an option.  When it comes to the bigger  pots I look for ones that look like they could be easily split into 2 or even 3 plants.   Thursday when I picked up new things for my fall containers this is the approach I used.  Once you get home pull the plant out of the plastic container and look for a good area to separate.  Sometimes if the plant isn’t root bound and adequately moist you can just pull it apart with your hands.  I find the simplest method is to use an old knife.  This one is a leftover from a long since replaced kitchen set.  It’s still nice and sharp and works great for this procedure.  I just cut it down the center and voila….now I have two plants.  I did this with the sedum in the photos above (which could of been divided into more pieces) and with the Solidago and Asters.  Pretty much any plant can be done this way.  So for the two pots by the shed I used 3  6-8″ potted plants.   This saved me 50%, but if I had divided them even further it could of been a savings of 75%!   Division can be applied to existing plants which equals free plants to share with friends or put elsewhere in the garden.  This is how you get more bang for your buck.