What to do with these hardy geraniums?

[MerylSqueak]

In a much neglected part of my garden, I have screeds of pelargoniums that haven't been touched for years. They look very unattractive, almost like their roots are out of the ground. Ant ideas what to do with them? Google doesn't show me any as bad as / like this. This particular clump I'm splitting and planting.

You could lift the clump and divide them. When they're lifted have a trim right back and replant the smaller clumps where there is active growth.

I've found cutting back harder after flowering works well and then you get a flush of new growth, more flowers and you don't end up with the build up of thatch year-on-year!

Thanks. Could you explain what you mean by 'right back' please? It's exactly this I'm unsure about because they have all these rooty looking bit well above soil level.

I was wondering if someone could help me understand what to do with the rooty looking bits that are above the ground. The don't look very attractive. Can I cut them back to ground level?

I can't seem to enlarge your photo, so can't quite see - but, if they're pelargoniums, that's amazing! I thought they were not generally frost hardy? What varieties are they?

In general, if I were unsure about cutting back something geranium-ish, I'd choose to mulch it instead, on the principle that the new growth will happily grow through a mulch, and the mulch will hide the roots. But, I'm not quite sure about that as I've never come across pelargoniums that lasted over winter outside.

If they are hardy geraniums (as opposed to pelargoniums) then as long as there are roots underground then yes , you can cut the exposed stems/ roots right back to the ground.
But hardy geraniums normally die completely back in the winter and pelargoniums don’t usually survive if outside over winter - so it’s not really clear which these are!
Do you have a photo of them in flower?

Those are cranesbill geraniums, not pelargonium geraniums.

I think if you cut off all the twiggy bits now you might not get any flowers this year.

I would dig up the whole clump and re-plant some of the new green growth with a bit of root attached, and then trim it back every year after flowering to stop it spreading.

Thank you.

I have no idea what variety they are. I inherited them with the house. They will have been neglected for years because the house was empty as owner was in a nursing home. They are pretty much green all round. I think I have the pelargonium type too as there are ones with different roots.

I have absolutely masses of them. I can't think how long it would take me to dig and divide them all. I did one small patch yesterday and it took me a good two hours. I have about ten times that Maybe the mulch idea would work.

I'm grateful for your suggestions. Thanks.

What colour flowers have they?

Have you lived there last summer. My geraniums die back and there is a mass of dead stalks but magically they grow into a healthy mound in the summer.
I would go in and pull out what you can of the dead stuff and compost it and I'm sure what's left will have lots of established roots and come away in the summer.

If they didn't grow and flower last summer they need digging up.

They flowered on top of all the rooty looking bits but it's not the most attractive thing. I just kept looking at them wondering what to do because the leaves and flowers are lovely and I don't want to lose those but the roty bits are nasty looking

They have blue flowers.

These are definitely hardy geraniums, not pelagoniums. (They are two totally different things)

Dig them up, replant a few green bits (with roots) and chuck the rest.

They have probably been in situ too long and the soil is depleted. Use a fork to pull up as much as you can. Can you find some fresh soil to put on the area?
Then put annual seeds between whats left. Orange and yellow poppies grow in rubbish soil, cornflowers?, erigeron daisies. Presumably they get some sunshine there.

… though both in the Geranium family.

Geranium have flowers in blue,purple, purply red, pink and white. Pelargonium have flowers in scarlet red, clear pinks and white, and some in reddish purple shades.

they both have seedpods like a long beak with the seeds clustered round the base. As the seed pod dries, it splits into segments and each segment flicks up, catapulting the seed at its base to pastures new.

Well, I've been at it this afternoon. It's a bit daunting. There's just so much of it. I started with a small bed and got halfway through. The soil underneath is completely compacted, which is partly why I'm digging it up - to improve the soil. I dug and mulched the first half of the bed but just cut back the second bit to give a clearer idea of what it's like.

I've replanted small bits, burying the wormy bits. Does it look like I'm on the right track?

They look like you need to start again. Dig the whole lot up, select a few bits that look good with good roots (from underground), dig in some new compost and re-plant the good bits with the leaves above ground. Water well. Those look like the type of hardy geranium that won’t mind a bit of rough treatment. As a pp said, if it looks sad and bare between put in a few annuals to fill the gaps.

However what you have will probably be OK this year - the new growth will hide the woody stems.

Thank you. Do you know how you stop them getting like this?

I just hack mine back after flowering.

Thank you

And thank you all again. I've just been out to look at the sprigs I put back in about 4 days ago and they've grown amazingly.

Yay! They will be loving this warm weather. Don’t forget to water them well though - their roots may be a bit unhappy. I love geraniums. Such pretty flowers and the bees adore them.

They are hardy geraniums, so as soon as they start to put on some growth you won’t see the rooty bits. After they have flowered then just cut them back, both leaves and spent flowers and they will give you a second burst of growth. Be warned they are a bit addictive because they are so useful and obliging.