Cut the root ball in half or thirds with a sharp, serrated carving knife or a pair of poultry scissors. Be forewarned though, this is a spreading plant that once you put it in the ground, it's going to take off and be tough to control. On most of the landscape jobs I used this plant, we planted it in the pot, in the ground. There's a house here in West Boca that we used 15-gallon cans, buried the cans below the soil line, and filled them with 3-gallon pots of Asparagus fern. Still looks good after 6 or 7 years and they haven't spread.

I had to use a hatchet to divide mine. That's one tough root ball.

Darlene

You know, even though it is not invasive, it is the rootball itself that keeps me from planting these directly into the yard. No telling how hard it would be to pull it if I ever needed to remove it.

Here's a follow-up. I pulled my foxtail fern out of the pot. I dusted as much loose soil from the roots as would easily fall away. I then cut the root ball in half with a pruning saw. It was actually rather easy to cut.

I then root-pruned each half until I could them nicely and easily into the center of their respective new pots. They turned out pretty good.

Carol

I missed this the first time around; I planted foxtail fern in the ground -- once --. It spreads like wicked.

~dianne

Hi Dianne,

It is Asparagus Fern that is extremely invasive, taking over the yard. Foxtail Fern stays put with no invasive properties. They look similar, but Foxtail Fern is very well-behaved.

Carol

Does anyone have Foxtail Fern/Meyers Fern (Asparagus densiflorus 'Meyersii') growing in full sun? I have two in pots that I would like to plant in the yard. The location where I would put them gets pretty-much all day sun. Some shade in the early morning, but from midday on, it is a cooker. Will they survive? And thrive?

Thanks!
Carol M. in Jacksonville

Yes, I have them in full sun, but they do get watered 2x a week. :o)

I have a strange story. Some years ago I planted foxtail - it looked exactly like the one in the picture here. Now I have a spreading asparagus which is sending up plants all over the bed. From the middle of the plant it sends up the foxtail strands. How does one explain that? Wish I could post a picture.

I cut my bulbs with a serrated kitchen knife. Worked great. Kept the excess and put in another container. Hope it grows.

Do you cut the ball wet or dry?