• Our rhubarb has been in the one bed for 5 years and now needs to be divided and replanted to keep the vigour in the plants.
• You’ll get enough new plants out of one old one if it’s big enough. It’ll take a year for the new plants to establish themselves though, so we won’t dispose of all the old plants this year. We’ll feed them up with chicken poo and rock dust so as to get enough rhubarb to last us for this season.
• Start by pulling many of the stalks off the plant you choose to divide, leaving a few young stalks and leaves on.
• Using a spade, carefully dig the old crown out, trying to keep as much of the root system intact as you can.
• Work out how the crown can be divided up. Each piece should have some growth on it and some root. Some of it can be pulled apart by hand, other parts will have to be chopped into pieces with your spade. If there’s a hugely long root system, you can reduce that with a spade.
• Two plants is enough for most families. Try and find a space for rhubarb on its own as it’s a gross feeder so will rob other nearby plants of nutrients.
• When planting rhubarb, make sure the crown is above the soil level, otherwise it could rot in wet conditions.
• We add chicken poo to the bed (can be sheep pellets or other animal manure) to give the plants a nitrogen boost to get the leaves growing.
• Water the new plants in well and if the weather stays dry, water again in a couple of days’ time. As you’re establishing new root systems, it’s important the plants don’t dry out at all in the first two weeks.

Camera: Davian Lorson
Editor: Thomas Asche