Question
We recently purchased a old home place in north Georgia,  where the previous owner had a field with rows and rows of iris and daylilies, and we appreciate them so much, but they have  been neglected for years, and the field has been almost overcome with "Bermuda and fescue grass" help?? we don't know where to begin, they are so worth saving....The previous owner before actually had a business, with the flowers, ordering individual bulbs from seed catalogs. He kept some pretty good records, on a big cardboard, how they did each year by variety etc... Where do we start, any suggestions???

Answer
Hi Philip,

  I have been in this same situation-it was a field of iris and daylilie "rescue" from a place that had been sold to a young man who we KNEW would just dig them up and dump them!

  The BEST thing to do is dig up and divide all the rhizomes.  You say there is a map so you can be very careful and organized.  Once all the rhizomes have been dug up (and you can do it in sections-there's no hurry-you don't have to get it all done in one season), pull all the clumps and runners that you can-if you water the ground a little first, it helps.  Refer to the following website on how to rid the area of Bermuda grass.

http://www.ehow.com/how_4576457_eliminate-bermuda-grass-flower-beds.html

  The rizomes you have dug up probably need to be trimmed before replanting.I trim off the largest of the stragling roots and the withered ones.  I usually trim all of them in length also so they are about 3"-4" long.  Here are a couple of websites that might help:

http://gardening.about.com/od/perennials/ss/DividingIrid.htm

http://www.rossde.com/garden/garden_divide_iris.html

 The ground needs to be loose and well-draining, adding compost if you have any or gypsum if the soil is clay-I have used my Mantis tiller to loosen the soil to at least 6" in depth. Now you are ready to put the rhizomes back, put a little bone meal in the bottom of the hole with a little more soil over the meal (keeping the meal and rhizome from touching) before planting. It's better to plant them too shallow than too deep.  Leave a lot of room for growth so you don't have to do this agaian for 5 years!

  The best time to do all this is after they have bloomed this year and had a little time to gather nutrients-say about July to October.
  
   I am jealous-I'll bet you have some real beauties!!! Your friends will be envious--you can share your extras with them!

  Dividing the daylilies is almost the same.  You can do that division and replanting as soon as the ground has thawed this spring.  Give them lots of room also.

Best of luck-if you have some really rare ones --I'll be glad to take your extras!!  After we rescued our "field of dreams" and after giving away hundreds of bulbs-I had over 200 fabulous iris in my back yard.  Some were HUGE-6" across!

Now go get your hands dirty!
Sijka