Rhubarb is a godsend for northern gardeners who crave versatile desserts and preserves, but want to grow low-maintenance plants.
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Hardy to Zone 1, rhubarb is resistant to most pests and diseases, and flourishes for a decade before its spindly over-crowded stalks signal the need for division. But before you divide these bulky roots think carefully about where you'll be putting your new plants. Rhubarb is a long-lived, deep-rooted, space-hogging beast of a perennial. As soon as the ground can be worked in spring select a site at least four feet (120 centimetres) from other plants then dig a pit two feet (60 centimetres) deep and wide. Spread a six inch (15 centimentre) layer of compost over the bottom. Then divide your rhubarb, making sure each section has two to three healthy buds (bright red knobs). |  Photo by: Vanessa Farnsworth |
(You'll get at least three transplants from a 10-year-old plant.)
Place the crowns in your pit so that the buds sit approximately four inches (10 centimetres) below the soil surface and backfill with an equal mix of soil and compost.
Fertilize with bonemeal or 20-20-20 and keep well watered and mulched during the first year. Don't harvest any stalks the year you propogate your rhubarb and only a few the following year. Successive years will see your rhubarb return to its former – and future – glory.
This article was first published in Canadian Gardening (February/March 1996) in a slightly different form.
If you have any questions or comments, please send them to me at vanessa@gardenmuse.ca.
