Tuesday night I cycled to the Village Hall [my third bike ride in one day!] for Gardening Club. I had even prepared a question for the Q&A slot at the end of the evening. I handed it in as I arrived.
I have a
healthy rhubarb crown which has, for some years, provided us with plenty of
fruit for pies, crumbles etc. It is in a good spot, adjacent to an unhealthy
fence. On November 6th, the fence is being replaced. I am concerned that in
the process, the rhubarb will be trampled to death. Should I dig
it up , and if so when? How do I
keep it safe and healthy if I do? And when can
I put it back in its original location?
Our visiting speaker's topic was "A Year in the Life of a Market Garden" - she and her husband have just retired after 40+ years. She said "I'll begin my year in October, as that is just about where we are. Here's a picture of the tractor ploughing our field" ...and then "here is Andy, lifting our rhubarb. Rhubarb should be lifted every 5 years or so, and divided. Dig it out around October/November, and leave it, roots and all, on the earth, through the winter frosts. Then divide it and replant the smaller 'eyes'" The rest of the talk was really interesting.We had a report on the summer show. 7 out of 10 of the silver cups won by committee members...again [we do have independent judges from outside the village] Then the committee expert said we had just one question "Angela Almond, where are you?" I waved and said"Here at the back!" She read my question out loud, and said
I would leave it where it is, tell the workman not to disturb it, and instruct them to work round it. If you think they will step on it, cover it with an upturned metal hanging basket to make a cage. But if you uproot it now you won't get any more crumbles from it for years.
I was utterly gobsmacked. She had said the exact opposite of the speaker. I checked out the RHS advice online yesterday - and they agreed with the lift and separate instruction**. I asked my mate Ken about it at the church coffee morning, "Oh, dig it up next month, and leave it outside to overwinter, then divide it in the spring"
Can I ask for a refund on my Club Subscription?
** Having just typed Lift And Separate, I suddenly remembered that dire Playtex Bra ad from 1982 - with the US actress Eve Arden [she played Principal McGee in Grease,but had a very long Hollywood career for half a century before that]
I've given up growing rhubarb as I'm the only one who eats it. My friends are usually overwhelmed by a glut and only too happy to give me a few sticks from their plants.
ReplyDeleteYour gardening club sounds as though it should be in a novel!
If only I had time to write it!
ReplyDeleteI love my rhubarb and wish it would grow more but often gets disturbed by badgers or foxes digging for worms!
ReplyDeleteAwkward over the conflicting advice!!
Kx
I'm tending towards the "dig it up" team
DeleteThat's interesting that you were given two different sets of instructions about the rhubarb plant! I tried growing rhubarb in my garden and it wouldn't grow. I was very disappointed as I love rhubarb and it is so expensive to buy (provided the stores even sold it - I usually found it in the ethnic market).
ReplyDeleteRhubarb is fairly common here, and available on the market.
DeleteI always heard that digging it up and separating every few years was a 'good thing'. I have just finished growing rhubarb now.
ReplyDelete👍
DeleteHa ha that advert is of its time! We have tried to grow rhubarb in this garden but to no avail so have given up and rely on family and friends for rhubarb fix. I remember my Grandad, a real old countryman, always lifting the rhubarb and resting it on the soil every few years and then replanting. He always had a plentiful crop. The conflicting advice is confusing. I think I would go with the dig it up advice. The "expert" seems to be in the minority with their opinion. Pyjamas at 7 pm sounds cosy to me. Regards Sue H
ReplyDeleteCommittee members tend to do well here too!I have just had part of my garden fence replaced and I can tell you now that nothing will survive the workboots of the workmen! The professional who offered the advice of asking them to take care around it is very naive!They've got a messy job to do and they'll have no time to dance around one little rhubarb plant!I say take your chances and lift it out of the way to keep it safe then replant it when your lovely new fence is up!.
ReplyDeleteGosh I remember that advert. :-)
ReplyDeleteAs for the advice I would go with dig up and separate, and you know now whose advice to go with at the Gardening Club.
I used to be a member of the local gardening club when we lived in Wales, it was so hard to stay awake through some of the talks after a day working on the hillside. Eventually a two hour talk about snowdrops finished me off and I fell asleep. That was my final visit to the club.
Thank you Sue ! I seem to remember that at a similar time to that ad, there was one with the strapline "My girdles killing me" I am very grateful that female 'underpinnings' are much more comfortable now than in our grandparents' generation.
DeleteNo thank you on the rhubarb as neither DH nor I like it at all.
ReplyDeleteHugs!
You love it or hate it I think! You can eat the kale for me
DeleteToo funny about the Playtex bra! I don't think you will have any problem with replanted rhubarb. We moved our miserable rhubarb years ago from an area surrounded with a wood border, and put it into two planters made out of an old hot water tank, cut lengthways and painted white. It has produced faithfully in them ever since. I once heard that you should plant something metal, a large nail perhaps, underneath rhubarb, and I think ours likes the metal container! No gardening expertise here, just a bit of luck I think.
ReplyDeleteI will dig it up and hope
ReplyDelete