How to Separate Bleeding Heart Plants

The old-fashioned bleeding heart, with its graceful fern-like foliage and heart-shaped blooms, has regained popularity in the shade garden. Bleeding hearts bloom in shades of pink and white in late spring and early summer on plants that can grow to shrub size but die off by late summer. Like many perennials, bleeding heart plants benefit from being dug up and divided every three or four years to keep the plant healthy and to provide additional plants for the garden.

Difficulty:

Easy

Instructions

things you’ll need:

• Spade
• Straight-edged shovel
• Compost

1. Dig around the base of the plant in early spring to loosen the root ball.
2. Cut down into the root ball with a sharp, clean, straight-edged shovel to divide into at least two pieces. Do not make the roots too small, but a plant that hasn’t been divided in awhile may yield as much as four new plants.
3. Dig your new holes for your transplants in a shady to partly sunny location. Make the holes twice the size of the root balls you wish to plant.
4. Work compost or a slow-release fertilizer into the soil in the hole and place your new plant in. Cover with the removed soil to the crown of the plant.
5. Water deeply, 1 to 2 inches, and continue to water on a regular basis until plant is established. Then, you can cut back to a less-frequent watering schedule like your other established perennials.

Tips & Warnings

• If you plan on giving divisions away or need to wait to transplant, wrap root balls in wet newspaper to help keep them moist. Transplant as soon as possible.