Lift and divide perennials

Late winter is an ideal time to lift and divide established clumps of perennials and you can do this with just about any type of herbaceous perennial that died down in autumn. Dig up the clump with a spade or fork, making sure you get as much root as possible, and carefully tease it apart, either by hand or with a garden fork. The old, woody centre is usually discarded and the younger, outer growth is saved and replanted in groups in the border. Not only will dividing perennials give you more plants for free, it rejuvenates them, too.