Soil preparation, planting and care of irises

Irises are light-loving and grow well in sunny areas. They can tolerate light shade from sparsely standing trees, especially in the hot afternoon hours, but irises cannot tolerate constant shade at all and stop blooming, although the foliage develops. Irises are afraid of excessive moisture, so they develop best in areas with low groundwater levels, but they are very demanding of moisture during the flowering period.
The best soils for bearded irises are light sandy loams. Very heavy soils can be improved by adding sand and peat to them. Acidic soils should be neutralized with lime. In the central and northern regions, it is better to raise the flower bed on which you are going to grow irises by 10-15 cm, since irises do not tolerate stagnation of water. Before planting in the soil on your site, it is necessary to apply mineral and organic fertilizers and make a bed or flower bed with a slight slope to the south. It is not recommended to add fresh manure and even humus to the soil immediately before planting irises, it is better to fertilize the soil with them a year before planting. Irises can be grown without transplanting for up to 3-5 years, depending on the degree of overgrowth of the iris bush. Thickened iris bushes become smaller, bloom worse, and are more susceptible to fungal diseases.

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the bush is heavily thickened a two-year-old bush

Irises are very unpretentious plants, they can be transplanted from early spring to autumn. The best time to plant irises in the middle zone is from July to September. When planting irises, the roots can not be cut off, the leaves should be cut at a height of 10-15 cm.
The main time for buying and planting irises is from July to September. The planting unit of an iris (scapula, layering, division, fan) is, as a rule, a one- to two-year-old link of the rhizome. The size of the cut may depend on the variety of the iris. When sending irises, the roots and leaves dry out. It's not scary. Because after planting, after about 10-15 days, the iris sections give new roots. The old roots only serve as "crutches" - they hold the irises in the ground.

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When planting an iris, the top of the division should be at ground level.
Irises are moisture-loving plants, especially during the flowering period, but irises do not tolerate stagnation of water. Top dressing of irises is well combined with watering. Irises should be fed at least three times. The first is nitrogen-phosphorus (after removing the shelter), 20 g of ammonium nitrate and potassium sulfate each. The second (after 2-3 weeks) is nitrogen-potassium (1:1). After the end of flowering, phosphorus-potassium (50 g of superphosphate and 25 g of potassium sulfate per 10 liters / m). Complex fertilizers for flowering plants are well suited. During the flowering of irises, do not allow faded flowers to fall on the leaves, as this causes rot on the leaves. It is necessary to remove the faded iris flowers, and after the end of flowering, break out the peduncles entirely. After flowering, I do not prune the healthy foliage of irises. I'm only picking off the old, withered outermost leaves.Watering irises is strongly discouraged in late summer and autumn. Dry weather at this time will stop the growth of shoots and provide irises with the best conditions for wintering.

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It is not necessary to shelter irises for the winter, but it is desirable to provide them with an air layer between snow and soil during the winter. A spruce lapnik is well suited for this.