Rhubarb is a wonderful addition to the garden. Rhubarb is …
- a Herbaceous Perennial
- Deer Resistant (deer don’t eat it !)
- Almost no maintenance – keep harvesting and you are fine
- Productive for 8 to 15 years
- a cold loving crop so will need some shade for our hot summers
It likes fertile well drained soil – the well drained part is really important and slightly acidic soil. Rhubarb grows 3 – 4′ high.
When planting, give each plant 3-4′ of space to grow and make sure the rhubarb crowns are shallow so 1/4 to 1/3 of the crown is above the ground. If the crown is planted to far into the ground it will rot. We started just two Crimson Cherry plants we got from Raintree, the variety with the reputation of being the reddist.
Harvesting:
- Do not harvest stalks the first year.
- Harvest a few stalks the second year, about 1/4 of the plant.
- Harvest as much as you want after the second year.
- Harvest by cutting the stalks at ground level.
Plants can be divided and shared if they get to big for your space.
Check out part of our new baby patch ….
Prior Unity Garden Blog 