Dividing perennials

[Tia4]

Hi everyone! My first time in here and I'm hoping someone can answer a couple of questions for me. This year, for the first time, I have not divided any of my perennial geraniums and the borders are completely full, looking healthy and lush. However, as some of the clumps are over 12" wide, I am concerned that they will flop and look a mess after a few weeks. Would you recommend dividing them and, if so, how big a clump would "fill out" quickly enough? I have a feeling I should have done it sooner ... in the past I have divided them into small fist sized clumps and have then had to spend afortune on annual bedding plants to fill the gap :(

My second question concerns the growing of mint. I am led to believe that it's the easiest plant to grow but I have no success with mine. It was bought last year and lives in a half barrel. It is looking sparse and woody and we use lots and lots of mint so really need a good, constant supply. Does it need regular watering or prefer to be dry? Full sun or shade? Compost or soil? Sorry to bombard you with so many questions but my gardening knowledge is very limited!

Hoping someone can help!
Thank you,
Tia.

Re. the perennial geraniums - I've lived in my house for 5 years now, and this is the first time I've divided the geraniums that were here when I moved in (I'm pretty sure they're geranium macrorrhizum. I only did it this year because they're, slowly but surely, trying to take over the entire garden. In my previous garden I had more clumpy geraniums (various species and varieties - never managed to identify them) and they didn't get divided much more often.

I normally stop the floppy-mess look by waiting till the first flush of flowers is over and then giving them a severe haircut. The plants are then obliging enough to grow back and usually flower again :) If you like the way the beds are looking then I'd leave them be, hack hard after flowering and consider dividing (gently) in the autumn. (When you hack them, do look at them first - if you're a little late you might see the new growth starting already and you don't want to cut that off as well!)

Re. mint, I do wonder if its getting too dry. What kind of compost is it in? I've always grown it straight in the ground and, the one thing I've learnt, is that mint seems to be quite deep rooted. Which makes it quite invasive. But also means the roots would normally get down deep where the soil remains fairly moist and cool. If I really wanted to grow it in a pot I'd go for sticking them in soil or soil based compost in the biggest pot I could, providing good drainage and keeping them well watered. But that is mainly guess work as I've never tried to do mint in a pot

Good luck :)

Tangle, sorry for the late reply but thanks for the geraniums tip ... I will shear them when the time is right. Think I will leave the large clumps this year and I might be pleasantly surprised! I'm sure you are right regarding the mint too ... it is growing in a half barrel full of soil (clay enriched with ordinary general-purpose compost) but it doesn't get watered regularly. Must do better! Thanks again, Tia.