We’ve recently ordered some new varieties of irises and needed to make some more beds. We thought you may be interested in how we go about this if you haven’t had the chance to come and visit us yet.
Fortunately, we are not restricted by land area so have been able to place our new beds right beside the older ones - but far enough away from that big gum that our irises aren’t competing for the water. First job was to measure out the area and find some edging material. We like to recycle as much as possible, so our edges came from an old building that was being removed.
The edges are held in 
place with iron stakes purchased from a local supplier. Then it’s time to import the dirt – thank goodness for the skiddy! We have sourced good friable soil from another part of the farm.
Once the soil is spread, we give it a boost with some lime and gypsum. The lime increases the alkalinity and the gypsum helps to break down the clay. Then it’s time to measure up and screw down our string to divide the plot into beds. Each bed is a little over two square metres.
We have decided to move all our dwarf and median irises to the new beds. This will give us a chance to divide them up and spread them out a bit which they badly needed. Where we thought we had perhaps twenty in a bed, there was closer to fifty, so once established, we will have plenty for our customers. They should be back online mid August for a short period prior to flowering.
We plan to move our newer tall iris plants to the vacant beds. A consignment from Tasmania which will include some of the older vintage varieties will be arriving soon. Some of these transplanted varieties will be available before the end of the year, so keep an eye on the website.
We hope you are still enjoying your garden despite the cooler winter weather. It’s a great opportunity to do some remodelling!
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