iris, why cut leaves?

[Lobo]

Why do we cut the leaves into a fan on iris when we dig and divide them?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Delete the obvious to reply to me personally. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

[Bourne Identity]

It's done to neaten them up, no other reason.

[B & J]

I also do it to control iris leaf spot. When I'm cutting back the leaves, I also clean up all the dead leaf debris and spent flower stems from and around the iris.

JPS

[Derryl]

I cut Irises back to a fan when Transplanting. This reduces the leaf area so that the roots (disturbed) can feed the tops.

Derryl

[David Ross]

The roots are damaged in the process of digging and dividing. I cut the leaves to reduce the demand on the roots for moisture. For the same reason, I reduce the number of leaves on a shoot when I take cuttings of other plants.

Also, my iris leaves sometimes grow quite long. I trim them when dividing to keep the replanted rhizomes from tipping over since the reduced roots cannot hold such a large plant upright.