Ken posted directions with pictures if you can find it.

The easy way is put a spade in the middle and push; then plant what you get. This will make the hostaholics crazy but I've never lost one this way. What you take and what you leave will suffer some this year and come back fine next year.

Digging and carefully will cause the same result except you will save more with careful division and you can do it anytime as long as you water the new and old.

i took down those pix years ago ...

listen.. very honestly .. a properly planted and sized hosta will NEVER need to be divided ... they come in all sizes for all spots ... the only reason to dig them up is for exercise for you ... they dont need it ...

if yours don't fit.. then maybe it is time to move them where they don't need to be divided ... or be done with them ...

that said... as per the last post... literally dig out half.. leave the other half there.. done ... it will look ratty for the rest of the year.. so it is better to be done in late summer or early fall.. when they look ratty otherwise..

in decent soil ..HOSTA NEED NO FOOD.... just water.. so spend your osmocote on something worthwhile ...

ken

WEll these have been planted for 3 years and all of a sudden two of them out of 5 have just gotten ginormous!!! I probably shouldnt have given them any food... but I did... I will wait until they are done for the summer then split and move one half.

Oh yeah? :)

One of these things is bigger than the others, but I ain't saying which. They were all the same size the year before, and are about the same age. It takes a few years for a hosta to come into its own and display the characteristics of its mature form.
Never fed them anything except compost topdressing.

Chris, those are beautiful.

I've said for more years than I can count that humus in the form of mulch and any mulch will do, leaves, pine, and hardwood. The best is the mixed compost from municipal compost facilities because you have mixed products giving you all of the nutrients the soil needs. Some say that cedar has a bad effect on hosta, they don't do well under my red cedar trees but I don't know about white cedar which is what is usually sold as cedar mulch.

In sand it will silt up and hold the sand together and retain water, in clay it breaks up the clay allowing the clay to accept water and drain.

What about "fairy ringing"? A couple of my largest clumps have done that and I've had to divide them up
or at least divide and space them out again! I thought that phenomonem was due to them being too
large and crowding out the older eyes!

janice

The center lacked for water.....and died out. Never had that happen to any hosta of mine.
Linda C