Lift and divide your rhubarb
Topped with golden crumble, nestling alongside ginger in a jam jar or smothered with thick, creamy custard – no matter which way you choose to eat rhubarb, it’s an essential on most people’s plots. I’ve got three varieties growing at home – ‘Timperley early’ for forcing, mid-season ‘Raspberry Red’ and ‘Livingstone’ which can be pulled in the autumn. It gives me fresh stems from February right through till September – or at least it will do once my plants mature! At the moment they’re still only two years old so I harvest them lightly. In another year or so’s time I can expect regular pullings every week, which is something to look forward to.
The chunky crowns will then go on cropping well for another two or three years but after that point I’ll need to think about dividing them. This prevents plants becoming congested, which results in weakened growth and the production of huge flower spikes (these deplete the plant even more).
In another garden I look after is a huge clump of rhubarb which is well past its best. It’s a prime candidate for division and the time to complete this task is now. The crowns are incredibly fleshy – slice into your clump with a spade, tease it out of the earth and cut it into chunks that have at least two growing points to them. Replant these in soil that has had lots of well-rotted compost or farmyard manure added.
discard the older inner section and pot up any smaller fragments into pots – these can be forced indoors later in the winter, but just leave them potted up outside for now.