Finally: Dividing Hostas
I started this ponst back in June and never published it....a quick lesson on how to divide up hostas, or any perennial for that matter.
There are a few different ways you can create new plants. Planting seeds is an obvious one, as is propagating from cuttings or layering branches. Another easy way to increase your plant numbers is by dividing your plants. When we bought the new hostas for the shade tropical garden we did some dividing before we planted them. Diving plants can seem a little brutal at first, but really is easy.
When you are picking out a plant you want to divide, you want to try and get a really full, healthy looking plant that is able to be propagated through division. Some plants can be divided and other don't really like this rough treatment..
Once you get your plant home, you will need to take it out of the pot and examine the structure of the plant. You need to decide how many time you want to divide it and where you are going to make your cuts. The goal is to end up with leaves and roots in each division, so you need to do a little pre-planning. Lots of times you can see natural places to divide where the different "tuffs" of foliage come out of the ground.
Once you decide where the dividing line is going to be, it is time to cut the plant. You can use a sharp shovel of some type of a knife.
Now you will have two plants. If you want to divide them further, go ahead. I can remember and have helped my parents divide hostas down to almost one leaf. I didn't go this extreme, and divided each of the hostas into about 3-4 plants.
There are a few different ways you can create new plants. Planting seeds is an obvious one, as is propagating from cuttings or layering branches. Another easy way to increase your plant numbers is by dividing your plants. When we bought the new hostas for the shade tropical garden we did some dividing before we planted them. Diving plants can seem a little brutal at first, but really is easy.
When you are picking out a plant you want to divide, you want to try and get a really full, healthy looking plant that is able to be propagated through division. Some plants can be divided and other don't really like this rough treatment..
Once you get your plant home, you will need to take it out of the pot and examine the structure of the plant. You need to decide how many time you want to divide it and where you are going to make your cuts. The goal is to end up with leaves and roots in each division, so you need to do a little pre-planning. Lots of times you can see natural places to divide where the different "tuffs" of foliage come out of the ground.
Once you decide where the dividing line is going to be, it is time to cut the plant. You can use a sharp shovel of some type of a knife.
Now you will have two plants. If you want to divide them further, go ahead. I can remember and have helped my parents divide hostas down to almost one leaf. I didn't go this extreme, and divided each of the hostas into about 3-4 plants.
Your post is timely. Some of my perennials need to be divided. Is there a better time, fall or spring to divide plants? I have salvia, gaura, and penstemon that need division. Thanks for directions. I'm going to pin to Pinterest.
ReplyDeleteEither will work, but spring would be better for the ones you mentioned.
DeleteSometimes, we spray the root ball with the hose to remove the soil and leave mostly bare roots. This works great if you are trying to get the most divisions possible! Of course your plants will take a bit longer to fill in if the divisions are that small. Easier to do up north where it isn't so hot and stressful on them!
ReplyDeleteI have seen your dividing first hand. If you are a patient, you get a long of bang for your buck!
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