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And if they can, when? Now? Spring? I have 2 clumps that are huge and getting larger every season. They will soon be coming out of the bed! I'd like to do it soon, if it won't harm them. Can I? I have no idea what "zone" I'm in--I live right between DC and Richmond, Va.
Thanks!
Wait until you think you've had your last spring freeze. You can divide them into small multiple clumps, but you can also start many new plants with a single piece. Doesn't look as nice at first but you'll have a lot more plants.
I just divided all my big hostas and mulched well. I prefer to divide most my plants in the early fall so I can get them mulched and/or share them with friends that way I can just sit back & enjoy them the following year. That has always been the way I do it and I havent lost one yet. As far as how to do it, depending on the size of my "mother plant" I either dig up a portion of it to divide or the whole thing and split it up. I got 5 smaller plants out of my favorite big hosta this year that I added to the garden maybe 2 summers ago. Now I will have 6 of my favs (from one plant) next year, some perennials are just so generous of themselves lol.
Wait until spring. Dig up the whole plant, take a sharp knife and cut the plant, roots and all, into the size you prefer. Replant, water (lots), feed, mulch.
I have worked for people in their gardens who ask me to divide their plants in the spring and I find that those plants dont always perform as well...with Ohio weather we kinda jump out of winter straight into spring and the plants seem to wilt in the hot sun even with being watered. That is just why I prefer to divide in the spring and let the roots establish themselves a little better, especially after the sometimes "stress" of being divided. I guess it just really depends on preference.
The hostas I have now are originally from a plant from a neighbor's garden. I first divided the roots in 1971. There are offspring in seven locations that I know of and every time I would move I would take some root cuttings with me. I always divided them in the spring just when the leaves start to form.
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