Gadenin日本語Get the appDivision: the method that works and the timing that decides it
Lovage divides cleanly and division is the fastest way to renew a tired plant. A crown of five years or more often produces less leaf and flowers earlier than it used to, because the center has become woody while the vigor has moved to the edges. Splitting it puts young, active tissue back at the middle of a plant.
The window is early spring, as the first shoots break the surface and before there is much leaf to support. At that point the root is full of reserves and the plant is about to grow, so the divisions establish within weeks. Autumn division works in a mild climate but leaves cut root tissue sitting in cold wet ground all winter, which is how crown rot gets in.
Each division needs at least one strong bud and a decent length of thick root, and a piece the size of a fist is ideal. Smaller scraps often survive but spend two years catching up. Since one plant is enough for a household, plant your best division and pass the rest on rather than filling the bed with lovage.
- Lift the whole crown in early spring Fork right around the plant a foot (30 cm) out and lever the crown up whole. The taproot goes deep, so expect to cut through it; a clean cut with a spade is better than tearing.
- Wash and read the crown Hose the soil off so you can see the buds. Discard the woody center if there is one, and mark where the natural divisions between bud clusters fall.
- Cut into fist-sized pieces Use a clean sharp knife rather than pulling the crown apart. Each piece needs at least one plump bud and 4 to 6 inches (10 to 15 cm) of thick root below it.
- Replant at the original depth Set the bud just at the soil surface in deep, improved ground and firm gently. Planting too deep is the usual cause of a division that never comes away.
- Water in and then leave it alone One thorough soaking, then no feeding until you see new leaf. Cut off any flower stem the division tries to make in its first year.
Root cuttings for a plant you cannot lift
If you want a spare plant without disturbing an established crown, take a root cutting. In late winter, while the plant is fully dormant, excavate on one side of the crown, find a section of root about the thickness of a pencil, and cut a piece 3 to 4 inches (7.5 to 10 cm) long. Backfill and the parent plant will never notice.
Orientation matters. Cut the end nearest the crown square and the far end at a slant so you can tell which way up it goes. Insert the cutting vertically into a deep pot of gritty potting mix with the square end just level with the surface, top with a half inch (1 cm) of grit, and put it in a cold frame.
Do not water heavily and do not give it heat. The cutting has all the reserves it needs and warmth without light simply rots it. Shoots appear in spring, usually within six to ten weeks, and the young plant is ready to pot up once it has three or four leaves and roots showing at the base of the pot.
| Method | When | What you need | Time to a usable plant |
|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Early spring, as shoots break | A crown of 3 years or more | Cropping lightly the same year |
| Root cutting | Late winter, full dormancy | A pencil-thick root section | A year, sometimes two |
| Fresh seed sown outdoors | Late summer, as soon as it ripens | Seed from the current season | A full-sized plant in year three |
| Chilled seed sown under cover | Late winter after 3 to 4 weeks cold | Deep pots and a cool bright bench | A full-sized plant in year three |
| Self-sown volunteers | Lift in spring while small | A plant you allowed to flower | Same as a sown seedling |
Seed: only while it is fresh
Lovage seed is short-lived and the difference between fresh and stored seed is dramatic. Seed sown as soon as it ripens, straight into a pot of gritty potting mix stood outdoors in a cold frame, germinates in a strong even flush the following spring after the winter has done the chilling for you. That is the easiest route there is.
Sowing in late winter under cover works too, provided the seed has had three to four weeks at 35 to 40F (2 to 4C) first, in the fridge in damp vermiculite. Sow on the surface with only a dusting of cover, because lovage germinates better in light, and keep the pot at 60 to 68F (15 to 20C). Emergence takes ten to twenty-one days.
Whichever route you use, sow into depth. Lovage makes a taproot early and a shallow cell forces it to spiral, which produces a plant that sulks for a season after planting out. Deep pots or root trainers, and planting out within six to eight weeks, avoid the problem entirely.
Seed saved from a garden plant will not come true to any named form, but lovage is grown for a single distinctive flavor and volunteers are reliably good. Age of the seed matters far more than its parentage.
Volunteers, and what to record
A plant allowed to flower scatters seed and you will find seedlings the following spring, often in paths and gravel where conditions are poor and the drainage suits them. Lift them small, while the taproot is still short enough to come up intact, and either pot them up or hoe them off. A volunteer left until midsummer is a fork job.
This is the cheapest source of replacement plants. If you plan to renew a crown in a few years, let the plant flower once, mark the best volunteer that appears, and grow it on in a deep pot for a season while the parent keeps producing.
Record the date of every division and root cutting and, more importantly, the date the new plant first showed growth. Lovage divisions that are going to fail usually show nothing at all rather than failing visibly, and without a note you will spend six weeks wondering whether to give up. Also mark the crown position of anything newly planted, because the top disappears completely over winter and an unmarked division is easy to dig up by mistake.