Your local nursery is a great place to find bargains. That’s because many plants, especially perennials, can actually be divided straight away. You may only buy one plant, but after dividing you could finish up with 10 or even more!
To divide plants simply place the rootball on a chopping block, chop it into separate pieces, trim the roots and then pot up each piece. The main thing to remember is that you must make clean cuts. You can use a sharp knife, a tomahawk or an axe. Plants are damaged when you try to prune or divide them with blunt tools, such as an old pair of secateurs, because this bruises their tissues.
Acorus (Acorus gramineus)
This evergreen, grass-like perennial is a good example of a plant that can be readily divided. It is frost hardy, grows in all areas of Australia and likes a swampy, moist position.
Don purchased 2 pots of acorus and divided them into 10 separate plants. He painted the low, square pot from The Pot Warehouse with leftover olive green paint from his shed (Dulux ‘Florida Palm’). The pot was then filled with the free acorus plants and mulched with free pebbles from the driveway.
Dividing succulents
Succulents, such as echeverias, can be expensive to buy but they are very easy to propagate. In fact, you can grow a new plant from every leaf. Simply remove the leaves from the stem with thumb and forefinger, making sure to take the leaf base as well. Set the leaves aside for about a week, to allow them to dry out. Once the leaves have dried out, gently insert them into a shallow tray filled with moist, free-draining propagation mix – Don uses 50:50 potting mix and washed river sand. In about 6 weeks you’ll notice new plantlets beginning to form!
Further information
Expect to pay around $15 for acorus in 200mm (8”) pots, and $10 for echeverias in 160mm (6”) pots.
Copyright CTC Productions 2003