Q. Peter, I dug up irises from a bed over-run with grass, with a grand plan for making a raised bed lined with landscape cloth to keep the grass out, but what in the world should I do to keep the irises alive until hubby makes that bed for me? Keep them- not him- out in the air? Stick them in perlite? Plant them somewhere else for a while? Have I killed them? They have been out of the ground for 5 days. Sure would appreciate your words of wisdom. Many thanks! Linda S. – Lakewood, WA
A. Yes you should plant them somewhere else for a while. This is called “heeling them in”. You simply dig a trench in another section of the garden and line them up in the trench at about their same growing level in the grass infested bed and cover with soil until you are ready to put them back in the reclaimed bed. Water them in the unlikely event there is no rainfall.