Raising the Root

Chives are one of those things that are just a glory to have in the garden.  They taste fresh, green, herbaceous, and I put them on everything!  Today I started cleaning out my beds and discovered the chives already going full force!  Yay, spring!  Oregano is another herb that is fantastic fresh from the garden.  Last year I also borrowed a dehydrator and dried a TON of oregano–it puts the stuff from the grocery store, even the stuff from Savory Spice Shop completely to shame (and I LOVE Savory–no offense, guys).

However, chives and oregano are bullies.  They are the kind of plants that just muscle their way in to any part of the garden they want, and they stay there (until I come along).  Oregano will send roots out several feet, and little sprouts will come up all along the length of the root.  And a small 4 inch pot of chives can grow to a patch a foot in diameter in just a year or two–not to mention it reseeds itself like crazy if you aren’t careful.

For this reason, I highly recommend planting these guys in containers, rather than in your garden.  They are hearty enough to last in a pot, and they can’t choke out other plants if they don’t have any to compete with!  My chives and oregano, though, are not in containers–they are in a bed–so something had to be done.  Armed with my spade and a bunch of old plant containers, I went to battle against these meanies, and what I have left is much smaller versions of the plants in my garden, with a bunch of transplants ready for new homes (read this: if you live in Denver, get your butt over here and pick some up!)

Oregano and chives, after being divided and repotted, all ready for new gardens! I know the oregano doesn't look like much, but trust me those roots are in great shape!

Dividing plants is a fairly easy process.  You can divide pretty much any kind of hearty clumping perennial (where one plant is actually a whole bunch of little plants in a clump)–irises, day lilies, and ornamental grasses are great candidates.  The process is simple–you dig the plant out of the ground (with a pretty good size root ball), then with your garden spade, cut that baby in half straight down the middle.  And just like that–you have two plants!  You can also divide into several plants at once, as long as each new plant has roots to grow from.  Perennials actually benefit greatly from dividing every couple of years.  Otherwise, the roots just get too packed together in the middle, and they don’t grow as well.  Then you end up with a plant that looks great on the outside edges, but the middle is brown and shriveled.  Not pretty.

I decided to apply this same concept to my chives.  I dug straight down through the middle of the plant, and removed half of it.  Then I split that into smaller plants, and plopped each one into a pot.  The oregano was a little tougher to work with, since it has one woody root system (as opposed to a bunch of smaller ones), but I mashed the spade in there, then jumped on it a few times until it broke through.  I know this sounds a bit barbaric and like I am being a little rough on poor little Mr. Oregano, but I am pretty sure nothing can kill this guy.  Hopefully the transplants survive!  I will keep you posted.  And please, if you are in town, message me and come get some herbs!