Cutting and splitting

Weds 20th March
Weather: A bit warmer but still with a slight nip in the air. The sun broke out from time to time and it was around 7°C.

We have been bringing some dahlias on early for a trial at Wisley by potting them up and placing them on the heat bench in the hot house. Their leaves are growing slightly curled and Fergus is worried that they might have a virus. So just on the side of caution he has asked for me to make cuttings of them because there is a chance they will grow out of it too. These dahlias have been set aside in a cold frame and a new batch has been put on the heat bench along with the new cuttings. The cultivars are the giant 'Emory Paul' and 'Witterman Superba'. The cutting medium we used was biochar.

Then I helped weeding under the hedges, and neaten up the last sections of the Long Border. I dug up a Miscanthus sinensis 'Cosmopolitan', split it in half and replanted just half of it back into the ground. This is to help control the size of the grass so that it doesn't overtake too much.

21st Thurs Mar
Weather: 5 - 6°C. Cloudy most of the day with the odd outbreak of sun.
I splitted up a half of Miscanthus sinensis 'Cosmopolitan' that I had dug up yesterday, into further smaller pieces with 2 or 3 growing points and potted them up into 4" to 3½" pots, in a number 2 soil mix.