From the Sperry Garden – October, 2007

We moved into our home 29 years ago. Soon thereafter I planted three 5-gallon compact nandinas (the second-tallest of the 7 or 8 common types of nandinas) beneath our living room windows. Over the years those three nandina plants spread gradually to cover more than 150 square feet of bed space. That was a good thing, since I had removed some old redtip photinias there many years ago and the nandinas had taken over the ground where they grew.

This fall I decided to reclaim that space since it now is just about my only sunny location in which I can grow flowers and vegetables. We dug nandinas out like you would clear out old, congested Shasta daisies. Every plant went into a new bed across the new pathway. Each plant was cut back by half or more to compensate for roots that were lost in the process.

You can see the old bed where these plants once grew and you can also see the new bed that now is their home. What you can’t see is how this is going to look in a year or two as the old bed is reworked and as the new bed fills in. One thing is certain, however. The nandinas will take off just fine with those first warm days of late winter.

This is not the first time I have dug and divided nandinas. The way these plants have thrived, I’m sure it won’t be the last.