The other day my
husband decided to run the mulching lawn
mower over my backyard irises. He thought it was a good idea;
quicker and faster way to trim back the fans and needless to say I
was devastated. Many of the rhizomes were damaged and other plants had no leaves as they were cut down so low that I doubt they will produce flowers next
spring or the year after, that is if they survive this shock.
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| My backyard irises that grow next to the rock wall |
Anyway I was upset but today I dried the
tears from my eyes and decided I would try to care for my damaged
irises; try to save them. The first thing that I did was add some
organic compost to the flower bed. Normally I do not cover the
rhizomes but today I did cover most of them, leaving only a small
section before the leaf would begin. The compost is a rich
fertilizer and hopefully will aid in provided the irises with the
nutrients that are needed to grow and not die.
When I completed the
compost, I then watered the irises, in fact I set up a soaking hose
that will provide the irises with a slow drip in the morning.
Presently I am
watching the irises for sucking insects like spider-mites and aphids
and if I see these garden type insects I will treat the irises with a
spraying of neem
oil insecticide. My friend is a master gardener and she does not
think that the flowers will survive. It is a terrible shock to flowers and like I said the rhizomes were cut.
Know that my husband is a great help to me with the garden and that I had explained how to trim back the leaves, even showed him how to sterilize the garden scissor but he thought the mower was a good idea and cut down the irises. Of course he knew immediately that he made a mistake and did say he was sorry. But the damage is done.
