@pimen - lose the fear! You'll find your plants are much hardier than you think, once you learn how to handle them.
When you thin your bog, there are plants that you can just pull up the excess - plants that spread by creeping fall into this category. I don't know what plants you have there, but here I grow watercress, water celery, creeping Jenny, parrot's feather, and forget-me-nots as examples of plants that spread by creeping. Those I just yank out the excess and leave the rest be. They will soon begin creeping again and you will be back in your bog thinning again.
Plants that grow by expanding out from their root ball - like irises and your papyrus for example - need to be divided by the roots. This does NOT mean you trim the roots. You just take up the entire plant (if I were doing this with a plant growing in the ground, I wouldn't have to dig it all up, but in the bog it's much easier to get the plant on firm ground for the next part.) and then divide the whole plant AT THE ROOT BALL. Get the plant on firm ground and then I literally take a shovel (or sometimes I even need a hatchet or a pick axe!) and divide the root ball into sections. If I want two pieces, I chop down the middle from the top to the bottom. If I want more plants, or smaller sections to replant, I chop smaller sections from the top to the bottom. If you examine the root ball, you can often see good places where the root ball will separate more easily. But you will cut into some of the thick roots - that's ok! Leave the bottom of the root ball alone - no trimming necessary. Then you replant the section you want to save, or plant them all, if you have room for them. Or you find a pond friend and you share!
When you do divide your plants (and this is true of any perennial that you divide at the root ball) expect to see some die off of the plant. A few leaves or stems will die as a result of the shock of being divided. THIS IS OK! The plant will soon bounce back and will quickly begin forming new leaves, stalks or stems. Trust me on this! I've been gardening for many years... there is no fear in gardening! Don't get me wrong - you will have failures along the way. There are all kinds of variables to consider. But have fun and don't stress - gardening and pond keeping is supposed to be relaxing!
When you thin your bog, there are plants that you can just pull up the excess - plants that spread by creeping fall into this category. I don't know what plants you have there, but here I grow watercress, water celery, creeping Jenny, parrot's feather, and forget-me-nots as examples of plants that spread by creeping. Those I just yank out the excess and leave the rest be. They will soon begin creeping again and you will be back in your bog thinning again.
Plants that grow by expanding out from their root ball - like irises and your papyrus for example - need to be divided by the roots. This does NOT mean you trim the roots. You just take up the entire plant (if I were doing this with a plant growing in the ground, I wouldn't have to dig it all up, but in the bog it's much easier to get the plant on firm ground for the next part.) and then divide the whole plant AT THE ROOT BALL. Get the plant on firm ground and then I literally take a shovel (or sometimes I even need a hatchet or a pick axe!) and divide the root ball into sections. If I want two pieces, I chop down the middle from the top to the bottom. If I want more plants, or smaller sections to replant, I chop smaller sections from the top to the bottom. If you examine the root ball, you can often see good places where the root ball will separate more easily. But you will cut into some of the thick roots - that's ok! Leave the bottom of the root ball alone - no trimming necessary. Then you replant the section you want to save, or plant them all, if you have room for them. Or you find a pond friend and you share!
When you do divide your plants (and this is true of any perennial that you divide at the root ball) expect to see some die off of the plant. A few leaves or stems will die as a result of the shock of being divided. THIS IS OK! The plant will soon bounce back and will quickly begin forming new leaves, stalks or stems. Trust me on this! I've been gardening for many years... there is no fear in gardening! Don't get me wrong - you will have failures along the way. There are all kinds of variables to consider. But have fun and don't stress - gardening and pond keeping is supposed to be relaxing!
