I read a while ago that about this time of year (late summer early autumn) you can divide clumps chives to produce more plants. This website gives some reasons why now is a good time to do it. I thought I would give it a go because I only have a few plants and wanted to try companion planting chives around some of the fruit trees. So last month I carefully dug up one of the plants that I had put in last October. Even though it was less than a year old it was easy to divide it to produce several smaller clumps. Encouraged, I divided a couple of others and from one of them got about ten plants.
The next day I was in the supermarket and saw some pots of herbs for the kitchen. There were some chives there that were half price and looked past their best. I felt a little sorry for them and they were so cheap that I bought some to see if they would grow in the garden. I managed to get six plants out of the clump (about 12.5p a plant!). They looked a little pale and half of them were bent over so I thought the slugs would probably get them, but planted them anyway.
The next day I was in the supermarket and saw some pots of herbs for the kitchen. There were some chives there that were half price and looked past their best. I felt a little sorry for them and they were so cheap that I bought some to see if they would grow in the garden. I managed to get six plants out of the clump (about 12.5p a plant!). They looked a little pale and half of them were bent over so I thought the slugs would probably get them, but planted them anyway.
Rescued chives
One month on and all of the chives, both the ones from the garden and the supermarket, are doing really well. The supermarket ones are just starting to flower now and look much healthier than when they were first planted. Definitely the cheapest chives I've ever bought.
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