Splitting London Pride

[FiestaRed]

I have what I believe to be two clumps of London Pride that are separated by a much larger clump of Crocosmia. I'd like to remove the Crocosmia and fill the space in with London Pride.

Can I ask if it is at all possible to split the two clumps of London Pride into smaller portions and replant them to fill in the space? Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated.

[Maggi Young]

'London Pride' is a name given to that stalwart  plant, Saxifraga x urbium.  You can certainly  divide your existing  clumps of London Pride and  make a continuous planting of  it when you've taken out the Crcosmia. I'd take a bit of care to make sure all the Crocosmia is  removed - it's easy to leave bits behind - though not as  bad as with the related Montbretia, which seems almost impossible to  eradicate from unwanted places!!   

As the weather  cools down you can do the work now and  that should still give the  saxifraga time to make some new root growth  before the winter cold reduces the soil temperature a lot. 

[FiestaRed]

Thanks for the help and advice Maggi. I fully understand what you mean about removing all the Crocosmia. It seems to be trying to take over the garden without any help from me at all.

At the same time as dividing the London Pride, will it help future growth if I were to mix a compost into the garden soil that's there at the minute? The stuff the existing plants are in is just plain and simple garden soil that never had anything added to it at all.

[Maggi Young]

One of the  great things about London Pride is that it can be happy in many different types of soil.  If it has been growing quite well as it is, then there probably isn't any need to "improve" the soil - but if it seems to be struggling then you could add a little something to cheer it up!
If the soil is too rich it will spread a lot but also become more lax in its growth, which isn't so attractive.
Another case for a "happy medium"!!

[FiestaRed]

Thanks again for all the help Maggi.

[FiestaRed]

Finally managed to get rid of all the Crocosmia bulbs then divide and plant the London Pride. Apart from watering the divided plants, is there anything else I can do to help them on there way?

[Maggi Young]

I think it is enough just to replant the  smaller sections of the London Pride. It does better in poor soil and at this time of year  extra feed would not do it much good anyway.  If the soil was too rich it would grow too big and floppy. Just water it a few times while the soil is still quite warm and the weather is dryish.

[FiestaRed]

Thanks Maggi, really appreciate the help.