Q. Like many people these days I am isolated at home, and, for a change, have time to tend our garden more carefully. I’ve been aware for some time that an old garden phlox plant needs refurbishing of some sort. It has formed a very broad clump of growth that has gone bare at the centre. How can I renew the plant? There are fresh, young clumps of new growth around the edges.
A. Select for replanting the best of the new growth from around the clump’s perimeter. Prepare their new sites well with a sprinkling of bone meal and compost or some other nourishing soil amendment. Then lift out the selected young clumps and install them into their prepared locations.
A minimum-labour alternative: Use a root knife or other sharp, serrated knife, or a sharp-edged digging shovel, to cut and lift out the old centre and some of the soil under and around it. Fill the emptied space with a high quality topsoil or rich compost and mix in some fertilizer. Leave a few of the best clumps of new growth in place to form a fresh planting and dig out the rest.
Cultivate lightly and mulch around the outer edges of the young plant pieces with a high quality, moisture retaining compost.
Q. Our family has begun starting some of our own transplants from indoor seedings. One issue has arisen: How do we keep seedlings from becoming lanky and weak?
A. Though most seeds need moderate warmth to germinate well, as soon as the seeds sprout the flats or pots need to be moved into cool room temperatures and bright light.
Keep the planting mix a little on the dry side, and make sure the seedlings have the space they need to spread. Warmth, inadequate light, over-watering and lack of space all contribute to seedlings developing long, weak stems and failing to bush out nicely.
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