From The Sperry Garden – February, 2009

Actually, I showed you this same cluster of compact nandinas several years ago as I pared it down to about half its former size and started a new bed 30 feet away.

Well, just three days ago, the planting outside our living room windows served as the source for yet another bed, this one along a path leading down to my home office and Santa barn (I paint Santas as a hobby). The plants you see in the vertical photo are the transplants after they were moved, planted and watered. They were growing around the perimeter of the old planting, where they had spread a foot or so farther than I really wanted them.

Actually, there’s one more step in this process, and that is to cut the transplants back to within just a couple of inches of the ground. You have to make yourself do it, but that’s a way of compensating for roots that were left behind in the old location. It lets the plants get off to a much faster start. They’ll be back at knee height by May.

You’d be amazed at how many of the plants that you’re growing can serve as stock plants for additional gardens you may want to develop. Easiest among them would be mondograss, liriope, wood ferns, the various nandinas and tons of low, spreading perennials.