Dividing Agapanthus

I am busy getting ready for my last, yes I mean it this time as getting well past it!, charity plant sale.
I normally divide Agapanthus after flowering in about August. Pot up the divides and leave them outside until the weather gets cold and wet. They then come into an unheated greenhouse for the winter and sold around end of March by which time they are well rooted. When I bring them in their growing medium will be wettish and I don’t water at all until they are sold.
This year I have failed miserably to do the division and will be doing it over the next few days. As the wonderful weather has disappeared I will keep the newly divided plants in the greenhouse but what I cannot decide is whether to pot the divides into bone dry compost or wet the compost as unlike previous years the divides will take some time to root in.
So shall I use bone dry or wet the compost? My gut say slightly wet but this could be wrong? I will be dividing both the fairly hardy deciduous types and the much more tender evergreen varieties.

 

My personal thoughts are you would be better waiting until early spring now, assuming they are deciduous varieties they wont grow through the winter or probably make root.

 

Have both Pete. Maybe leave the deciduous ones and split the evergreen ones? Think these definitely are best in really dry compost. Snag for leaving anything to split is I run the sale early, about the 3rd week in March as I sell a lot of early flowering bulbs and things like Hellebore and Trillium. People like to buy things flowering…grr so have to start early. I would like the Agapanthus to have rooted before the sale starts hence I was intending to do the division when I know it is considerably late to do so. Could also maybe hedge my bets and only divide half olf the clumps I have?

 

Well I definitely think none of them would like sitting in wet compost over winter.
I was thinking rot could set in on the damaged roots that are bound to happen in the splitting process.

But I suppose if you have to do the job now then you have no choice.

You mentioned flowering, do you think the divisions will actually flower next year.

 

They will all be in the greenhouse so won’t get wet. Totally agree they would definitely rot off if divided and left out. Not sure if the divisions will flower. What I have so far divided flowered this year so maybe. Buyers don’t mind so much if the plants are not due to flower. What they don’t like is buying plants that have already done their stuff and need to wait a whole year before the plants flower again! Many think a year is way too long. I waited 16 years before my species Rhododendrons started to flower….worth the wait.
These instant gardening programmes have a lot to answer for and as for the advert photos the likes of T&M use with plants that flower at different times all flowering together! If I had a £1 for every time I have been asked if I have a plant that flowers 12 months of the year. I now reply that if they discover one can they let me know. Of course there is Gorse/Whin which I have much to my annoyance in my field…..Not exactly a suitable garden plant but it seems to flower at all sorts of times and is verging on the indestructible!
I have divided up some of the evergreen Agapanthus and taking your suggestion, going to wait until the spring to do the rest. Might have changed my mind by then and only sell what I have divided presuming it has survived the winter!

 

A few years ago, I had anisondontea el Royo which actually had blooms (a few) every day for about 2 years. It then expired - probably exhausted! Grevillea Miquelliana Moroka nearly does the same, but it is probably too tender for your area
And what's wrong with gorse anyway? Wonderful perfume!

 

Hi

like Pete said , wait till spring is best

 

Every plant needs some water to help its roots settle and grow after lifting/dividing/transplanting/re-potting so definitely water the newly potted plants but let them drain well rather than sit in a saucer.

 

Hell’s teeth Caroline I had to look both of those plants up. Never heard of them. I bow to your knowledge. Re Whin, that’s what we in Scotland call it. The damned stuff grows like Topsey and spreads like wildfire here. I have spent a considerable amount of time clearing areas as otherwise I would have no grass left in my field. Farmers round here spent a great deal of money ripping it out or flailing it but it grows back. I do know how to kill it but it’s a laborious task and probably illegal.

 

Hi @hailbopp - usual things like glyphosate or triclopyr should do for it, but need to be applied when in full growth - which for gorse is most of the year! If someone could breed a thornless one, or even LESS thorny, I'd grow it!

 

Have you thought of putting around the message that when smoked it has similar properties to cannabis, that should get rid of some of it.

 

I have smoked many things in my life (I do NOT recommend lettuce, father was secretary of Holland and Barrett so got god knows all what tried out on us!) but smoking Gorse, now that is a new one on me. I know it goes up like Topsey when set on fire but the branches don’t burn “ green”. Having given up the dreaded fags about 10 years ago I will pass on trying it myself but know a couple of folk in these parts that partake of the happy baccy!

 

Actually it does not respond well to weedkiller Caroline, hence why the farmers use mechanical methods to remove/ keep it in bounds. According to a farmer friend of mine the only was to stop it coming back ( worked but seedlings have now appeared)is the paint neat Glyphosate immediately onto cut branches. Adding washing up liquid helps ( that’s officially the illegal bit!). If you even leave the cut branches for a few minutes the wound starts to heal over and the weedkiller doesn’t work…end of lesson! Not quite sure how we got from dividing Agapanthus to a lesson on killing Gorse.

 

Hmm. I wonder if it could somehow have branches wounded eg by scarifier to let the weedkiller penetrate?