The awakening of plants in the garden

What are these plants?

Perennials, that is to say, they survive all four seasons.
Rhubarb, virgin sorrel, artichoke, lovage, Jerusalem artichoke, fennel but also strawberries.

What work to start with?

Cleansing first, but also division. Take the opportunity to multiply and replace what is dead or renew certain crops.
Cleaning consists of hoeing or weeding the plants and pulling out all the weeds.

Virgin sorrel and rhubarb,

Both of these plants grow larger each year by shedding axillary buds from their roots, which create clumps that grow larger each year at the expense of leaf and rib size. The plant grows but the harvest is less beautiful.
It is therefore advisable to “open” at the foot of the plants before they grow and to pull out or cut these excess shoots that can also be used for multiplication, which is for example the only way to have new plants of virgin sorrel. This can be done with an asparagus gouge.

Every 3 to 5 years these plants need to be “regenerated”, that is to say divided.
The stumps are pulled out cleanly with a spade, then the large roots will be divided with a spade or a large sharp tool.
The most beautiful parts will be replanted on site or in a new square. The smaller ones can be used for multiplication by replanting them in a nursery bed.
It is advisable not to renew the whole square in the same year because the year of transplantation the production decreases significantly.

Artichoke, lovage and fennel,

They too produce buds but higher up, just below the collar of the plant. It is best to avoid uprooting the whole plant, especially for artichokes which only produce in the second year of planting.
We choose 2 to 3 vigorous buds for the production of the year and we pull out the rest while trying to keep a few roots with the bud in order to replant them in the nursery or to create a new surface of production with the most vigorous.

T2 Jerusalem artichoke,
This kind ofhelianthus from America produces rhizomes (underground stems) like irises or ginger, but deeper. It is the swellings of these tubers that are eaten. But they are also the ones with the eyes that will give rise to the new plants.
To avoid a forest of small plants, you have to pull out what remains in the ground, keep the biggest tubers for consumption and collect the smaller ones to make new plants.

Strawberries tree.

Strawberries are viviparous plants that emit stolons, long flexible stems, at the end of which are born seedlings. It is these stolons that are collected to make new plants.
Strawberries like all plants also tend to produce fairly dense clumps which, unfortunately, will produce smaller fruits. It is therefore necessary, there too, to make a choice and to clear up to have beautiful, well-coloured fruits.

And the food ?

Of course, these plants aren’t going to produce very nice leaves, ribs, or fruit if they don’t have anything to eat. We must therefore think about feeding them, also feeding the soil.
The supply of organic matter will nourish this soil, or at least the many organisms that make this food assimilable by plants.
We can, when we have it, bring old sheep or cow manure preferably, but the old horse is also the case.
Failing this, old compost can be added with crushed horn or feather flour which will provide very slow release nitrogen.
Finally, depending on the terrain and the quality of the organic matter added, it is sometimes necessary to add a little mineral fertilizer with a low nitrogen content.
This will be seen next week with the early season tillage.

Ask all your questions during the gardening program on Sunday morning on France bleu Isère from 9 a.m. to 10 a.m. by calling 04 76 46 45 45.