Advice needed for strips between the sidewalk and street. One strip faces south and gets plenty of sun. Fifteen years ago it was planted with iris and was gorgeous until some plants developed bacterial soft rot. Since then it's been sodded, but the frequent canine visitors pretty much killed that and it's been solid weeds for the last several years. The second strip faces east and gets lots of sun in the summer, but has more shade later. That's been planted with iris for the last 20 years, but two decades of neglect have suddenly resulted in bacterial soft rot this summer. I think I've finally learned my lesson about neglecting iris beds!

How long should I wait to plant iris back in the strips that have had the sick plants? The south facing strip hasn't had any iris in ten years. Can I plant some there? I don't know how long the spores stay in the soil.

I'm going to soak all the healthy rhizomes in water with some bleach, then dry in the air. If you have any other suggestions, please let me know!