David Lupberger: Hi! I’m David Lupberger with servicemagic.com. I’m here with Kathy Bowen from A Boulder Gardener, a full service landscape company. And we’re going to talk about three very simple tips to get your garden ready for spring. Kathy, can you show me what you have in mind?

Kathy Bowen: Yes Dave. Spring time is a great time to start dividing perennials. The reason you do this is because when they get overgrown, they don’t bloom as successfully as they should. So, here’s the example of the iris and what you simply do is you dig it out and then you divide it, it’s really easy. You can even snap it like this. So therefore, you have three brand new plants.

David Lupberger: And if you do this, you’ll say you’ll end up with more blooms once they fill in.

Kathy Bowen: That’s right.

David Lupberger: Okay.

Kathy Bowen: And more plants there are free. With the perennials that you’ve just divided, you can now make a new planting. You make sure that the dirt is flushed with the bottom of the root and all you do now is look for it until they blooms.

David Lupberger: All right so the benefit in splitting a perennial is you now have several new plants to work with.

Kathy Bowen: Correct.

David Lupberger: All right now, can you tell me about tip two. What’s the reason people use mulch and what are the benefits?

Kathy Bowen: Well, mulch is really important especially in new plantings because by placing it down around the new planting, it keeps soil erosion down, keeps moisture around the new plant, and addition to that, it also keeps aggressive weeds away from the new plants so that they can thrive.

David Lupberger: Okay. Now, what is this particular mulch?

Kathy Bowen: This particular mulch is called a gorilla hair which is the fun name for it or it’s also called red cedar.

David Lupberger: Red cedar.

Kathy Bowen: Yes.

David Lupberger: Okay.

Kathy Bowen: And this is particularly a good mulch because it mats to itself so it has a longer lifespan and it’s also wind resistant.

David Lupberger: Okay. So, let’s talk a little about ornamental grasses. Number one, what are they and number two, how do you take care of them?

Kathy Bowen: Well Dave, ornamental grasses typically grow in clumps and the reason people plant them is mostly for fall interest. Butt for a spring tip to take care of them, you really need to cut down the old growth to get them ready for the spring season. This plant in particular, it’s a little too late but I can show you an example of when that was done in a timely fashion. So, here’s an example of an ornamental grass that was cut about a month and a half ago. By removing the old stalks, the new growth is now able to come up through and have it successful grow in season.

David Lupberger: One more thing, spring cleaning means doing it in the spring. As you’re doing the general clean-up, make sure you do it early enough or you’re not damaging these new plantings. I’m David Lupberger with servicemagic.com