To cut back or not to cut back that is the question

Should I cut back my iris, now that they are done blooming, or is it best to leave them alone and let them die back?

Healthy, green foliage will continue to feed the plant for next year's bloom. It is best not to cut it back unless the foliage is dead, dying, or diseased, or unless you are dividing and replanting.

Laurie

This message was edited Jun 5, 2005 5:40 AM

I agree with Laurie. The only other thing I would add is if you have any stalks, cut them down to the rhizome. Those don't add anything to the quality of next year's bloom.

I don't cut my spent stalks. I snap them off. That way you don't transfer anything from one plant to another.


If you do cut them, make sure you disinfect your cutting implement very well with undiluted chlorox between each cut.

Inanda

I snap the stalks off so my iris will put energy into increases and strong rzs, not seed. I trim any dead or spotted leaves so my gardens stay clean looking and to cut down on bacteria.

I've got a seed pod on my Cotton CarnivaL.Then I need to snap that off all the way to the ground, and boy do I have a lot to learn taking care iris.

Thanks for all the hints on here, keep them coming, and I'm heading out to get rid of the stalks.

Annie



This message was edited Jun 25, 2005 3:28 PM

I was told that you only cut the leaves when you dig up and divide the plant. You pull of the brown leaves and leave the green. The blooms will suffer if you cut them back.

I'm planning to move some iris to new locations. Do I need to cut the leaves or is it just if you want to cut them you can?

I always cut the leaves back to about 6 inches above the rhizome if I'm moving the irises. I figure it's less energy that the newly moved rhizome has to put out. The leaves that are left on the rhizome usually die back once it's moved anyway.

This is just me, but when I dig them up, I cut them and clean all the dead stuff off, but any way will work.

Thanks for the info, Flowerfrenzy and Weegy12. I dug them today, but ran out of time. I'm hoping to get them in their new location tomorrow.

You are very welcome and I hope that I helped.

You are welcome. I definitely agree with Weegy that you should clean up all of the dead/dying leaves and junk. Throw the dead stuff away, and don't compost it as it might have disease and you don't want to spread it.

Well, actually these didn't have any dead or dying leaves yet. I put them in very late and this was their first year here so they didn't flower. I did find one rhizome that was mushy and VERY smelly!!! YUCK! It had babies attached to a part that was still firm, so I broke them off and threw the rest away.

Sounds like bacterial soft rot. Make sure you soak the part of the rhizome that you saved in a solution of 1 part bleach to 9 or 10 parts water. After soaking, rinse the solution off and allow the rhizome to air dry before re-planting. You might also want to soak any iris rhizomes that came in contact with that one, as soft rot spreads very easily. Be sure to disinfect any garden tools that you used and to wash your hands with a bacterial soap before touching anything else.

I always leave the patch of ground where I found soft rot go unplanted for a while, but that's just my personal preference.

Darn, that doesn't sound good. I will soak the rhizomes today and wash my tools. I'm glad I didn't do anything else with them last night. I worked the patch of ground up with my shovel cuz there was so much hard clay it it. I also added a bunch of new soil to it. Think it will be ok to plant annuals there?

Just planted walking iris, of all of my books, not finding best depth when a plant rather than the rhizome. what is the best depth on the plant to get the best blooming? I am concerned about next year.

Don't plant too deep, I have heard that the tops of the rhizomes like to "sunbathe" I also have root rot, I have quite a bit of it and haven't been disinfecting my tools. Bad. I'll start now and yes, it does smell, don't get it on your hands!

mgh~

As far as I know, rot only spreads to other rhizomes, so I think annuals would be fine there.

If the ground is hard clay, that might explain why you got some rot...not enough drainage. Bearded Iris rhizomes don't like to sit in pools of water and they don't like "wet feet". If you add well rotted compost and maybe some gypsum, that should break up the clay for you. I have the same problems at my house. I live in a housing development, and they took out all the good topsoil when they excavated. I've had to bring in new soil by the truckload. This will be my 3rd year bringing it in!

Thanks for all the info. I added new soil last year when I planted them, but I was running out and figured it would be enough....guess I was wrong. I put in a lot of new soil this time. I was also planning to put some daylilies in there......they should be ok too? The soil is very loose now cuz I worked it so much yesterday and removed a lot of the clay.

I think the daylilies should be fine, but I'm not a daylily expert by any means. I don't think the rot travels between different types of flowers.

I always think of clay as my friend, because it's moisture retentive, but too much of it is a BAD thing. I've found that gypsum (purchased inexpensively at my local nursery) is an excellent conditioner for hard, clay soil. Sand can be another good thing to add; it improves drainage.

This entire thread has been an education: thanks to everyone who added to it and those who answered questions. There have to be a lot of people, like me, lurking. Now, at least, I've learned a few things I've been doing wrong even though I have lots of irises.
I'll be a better gardener because of this thread!

I have been planting my new bearded iris and any replanted iris on 2-3 inch raised mounds for better drainage. My beds are mixed iris, daylilies, lilies & other perennials with black clay soil. Drainage can be a problem in my lower areas of the yard--that's where I plant my Siberians, Ensata & Louisiana iris

Do be careful with adding sand if you have very heavy clay soil. Gypsum is a better choice. If you don't add a lot of sand, you can end up with a sort of concrete. Speaking from experience......Actually, now I use manure based organic additives and replace as much of the clay as I can, while still mixing it at that bottom of the hole. But the trunk of my car can smell for days.

wow, this is an awesome thread. thank you all. can't believe it's iris planting time once again. i was so late in the season this year. january when i planted my irises.

i received a box of irises from a dger friend and when i opened them, i said to myself, "this is what they are supposed to look like? so green and healthy. and the rhizomes, so fresh and clean." my home depot irises of course where the dried variety. a world of difference.

Gypsum is not always a good choice for clay soils. Apparently there are different types of clay (sodic and ??) and gypsum works for the sodic clay which is common out West. Here in Franklin County,Ohio a bulletin from the county extension agent specifically states that gypsum is not good for Ohio clay.

I have had success combining coarse sand and compost and digging that into my yellow potter's clay soil. I have also used chicken grit in areas where I wanted excellent drainage for specific plants like Lewisia that rot easily in wet heavy soil.

I am getting ready to divide Walking Iris and move part to another bed, and share the others with a neighbor.

Should I cut them back before dividing them? I have never divided anything before. I live in the Bahamas, and the Walking Iris bloom year around, tiny yellow orchid-like blossoms, and beautiful green foliage. I never water them...water is precious & they seem to do fine without it, though are greener in the summer when we get a bit more rain. They are lovely...and I don't want to kill them, but they have become quite dense.

THANKS for any help. I'm new to this site, and have never posted anything!
Kitty

Kitty,

Sorry to say, but I don't know anything about Walking Iris. I do want to welcome you to DG though! I'm sure someone else will be along to answer your question.

You might also try starting a new thread in the iris forum....might get more views that way.

Hope to see you around! :-)

Mendy

Me neither Kitty, I know with tall bearded iris you can either trim the leaves before you dig up, I choose to trim them after as some of the clumps are so crowded. I then cut about 2/3 of the root off and then replant. What is a walking iris? Maybe you could share a picture??!!
Louise
Oh, and welcome, you'll love it here!

You will love it here and welcome!!

I just got some walking iris in a trade with kathy_ann. Very pretty dark green foliage and the flowers are supposed to be yellow and very delicate. I'm anxious to see them. She could probably give you all tons of information.

greenlink~

It's neat that you can grow walking iris as an outside plant. Here, we can only grow them inside. When the mother plant produces babies, they have to be snipped off and then potted up. I'm assuming that as the babies "walk out" there, they must just take root on their own in the surrounding dirt?

I don't know anything about cutting them back outside. My mother-in-law has a HUGE walking iris INDOORS. She cuts it back if it starts to get ratty looking. I don't know if it would be okay to do that outside, but my guess is that it would be as long as you don't cut it back too far.

Hey, Mendy, maybe you'll share with me???!!!
Sounds like I gotta have a walking iris!!!!

Weegy,

Well, I would share it with you if I had some. I was given some, but I must confess that I killed it. Hanging my head in shame here...... :-(

That's ok Mendy, we've all done that! (smiling at you and understanding!)

Ahhhh....a kindred spirit! :-)

flowerfrenzy--I'm interested in your mother-in-law's indoor walking iris. I just started a pot of them acquired in a trade. Is hers in front of a sunny window? Does it take a lot of water? Does she fertilize it often?
Diane

gardengram~

She waters it a few times a week. Yes, it's in front of a sunny window. I doubt she fertilzes it because she doesn't like to fuss with her plants. I think she just lets the fertilizer in the potting soil suffice. The thing grows like mad! I know she's had to move it to a bigger pot at least 3 times in the last few years. I'd love to see what it would do with some fertilizer!

Try this site to read about walking iris:

http://www.emilycompost.com/walking_iris.htm

I keep mine outside in partial sun/mostly shade and bring it in just for the winter. They have unique little flowers.

Neil

Thanks Neil, I'm going to check it out.

Thanks, Neil. That was good information.