WHY?>>>WHY??? WHY????

hosta NEVER need to be divided.. unless.. as you found out ... you need the exercise ....

if they don't fit the area ... how about getting some hosta that will fit the area at maturity ... or how about just getting rid of every other plant.. so the others can have more room ...

as an aside ... hosta are not plantain .. and they are not lily ... so that term is considered archaic .. but if it makes you happy .. what the heck ...

all i am suggesting.. is that you think outside the box .. and rethink what you want in your garden ...

there is a post somewhere down the pages about moving a large/mature hosta .... do all that.. and when it is out of the ground... hack it apart with ax ax ... sharpen your shovel.. and slice it with that .. whatever .... just blast all the soil off it.. and it will be easier to cut through ...

good luck

ken

Sorry to offend anyone. I am new here & new to Hostas.
This is why I said Plantain Lilly. I am not good at scientific names & looked it up on the internet & that is what I got.

Here is a link that might be useful: New to Hostas

Rutlandite 2007,
I have divided most of the hosta I have to fill in space, my budget is tight, and I like the ones I have. I am slowly adding to my collection.
I have never had problems with dividing hosta. As suggested, use a sharp shovel to get through the roots.

I am also new to the site, and not a hosta expert. Don't be put off........

You don't need to know the names, just know what you like and where it will grow. You don't have to be an expert to enjoy gardening...it's a learn as you go experience.

My Budget is tight also. I get alot of my plants from a
plant swap. Except this Hosta. This came from my Aunt & Uncle. My Aunt has since passed away. At the plant swap I get some really nice Plants & would like to share this Hosta with others. My family & friends also like how it is growing & would like some too. So I figure, I have a ton & it grows like crazy, why not share? :)

I do like Ken says--pop as much of it out of the ground as I can, and chop away with a square shovel. I kind of wedge the blade in the clump and step down. As the chunks get smaller, they're easier to separate, especially if you dunk them in a bucket of water or hose them off.

I divide them to share and, in the case of a couple of the hostas I inherited with the house, to move. I've got a huge clump of Undulata Unvittata, for example, that I'm going to divide into lots of little plants and move to a bare spot along the front property line. Then they'll stay there until they fade away or until the bunnies find them. :-)

Mary

Welcome to Hosta dividing 101!!!!

It sounds like you have large clumps of Hostas so here we go.

You should gently tie up the leaves of the plant so you can see where to dig the plant out.

How large a root ball you want is up to you but I would dig about 6 inches from the edge of the clump all the way around loosing the ground with the spade as you go.

Lift the clump and yes you can pull on the plant itself to remove it from the hole. Shake as much soil off as you can and remove the plant to a tarp to start the dividing process.

Look through the clump for natural dividing lines and start cutting,pulling the root ball apart as you go. It will sometines start to divide just by pulling, depending on how much soil is on the plant. Now you have 2 clunps and if you want to divide again repeat the process.

If these are large hosta you are dividing when you replant it will be necessary to tie up the leaves to insure that the plant can take water back up into the leaves faster to recover from the shock of being divided..

Water well when you replant and often to help new root growth.

If you have never done hosta dividing before don't worry about having to cut through the crown of the hosta if the plant is a large one. It will recover. For small hosta you can usually get the dirt to come off easily and then do the same process but you may not have to cut but you can if you want to.

Any hosta division that has even a small part of the crown attached to it will grow so plant them!!

Hope this helps all of you newbies!! I was one myself at one time! When man first walked upright!!!! LOL LOl

Connie

hi and welcome! big hostas can be particularly difficult to cut through when they're dry. you might try tucking your garden hose under the leaves and just let it soak the plant for 10 minutes or even more. it should be a little bit easier to dig and divide after that.

and ps, there's nothing wrong with the term plantain lily. it's a bit old fashioned, but everyone knows what it means.

Hi Yvette and Welcome

I forget who passed this tip on to me but it works really well when dividing mature clumps. After you have dug out the clump, instead of using a shovel/knife use 2 pitch forks - put them into the middle of the clump (as Connie said - look for the natural dividing line) back to back-tines entwined (you might have to step on the forks to get them to penetrate the root mass)and then pull/push the handles together. The forks will separate the clump into two without cutting the roots, they wiggle them apart. Just another way of getting the job done :)

Hosta recover nicely from a little abuse ..... lol

June

What an axe?

Your chainsaw idea made me wonder how well an electric knife would work.

Blasting all the soil out of the roots, as Ken said, really makes it much easier. I have a set of knives a big box store gave away on their tool sale deals. (Buy the tool,get a coupon for store credit back) They have worked really well for me, esp. the serrated ones. Depending on the type, if you soak the/blast the soil off they seem to fall apart into sections or you can gently pull them apart. This works with the giant hostas most often.

I've used hand saws on the really big boys.

Don't misread Ken. His communication style on here is "just the facts, ma'm" but he is merely trying to convey proper terminology and share his vast experience.

We won't make him the hosta forum welcome wagon chairman or anything but you can bet that he knows what he is talking about when he share info w/ you! ;D

I have a bunch of hosta about six feet in diameter and about 25 years old. Is it too late to divide them?

No, it's not too late. The problem is dividing them. Getting large hosta out of the ground to divide them that way will be difficult as they will be very heavy and might require a small piece of heavy equipment to accomplish the task.

The other option would be to use a sharp shooter spade and just slice off some large pieces. (Sharpening the shovel will help.)

bk

I have used the garden fork to take out a section at a time and then leave a section to continue growing. I have hard red clay soil that I try to amend ( it seems to gobble up soil amendments) and soaking the area or waiting until after a good rain helps with removing portions of the hosta.

I had to look up Undulata Unvittata and it is the one I got from my MIL about 40 yrs ago I didn't know it by this name. We have moved 4 times and it has gone with us every time. It has been in the same place for 25 yrs here and I divided it last month. We call it the Grand Mother hosta. I also have the all green one and we call it the Boone Hosta. (It came from a friend who has it growing around their home in Boone NC. These are the only 2 out of the many hosta in the yard that my husband and children can identify. My kids did not inherit the plant addiction gene. My sisters and I got it from my GMother.

Hi Ron, as has been said, you can always divide a hosta, but the big ones can be tough. I had to divide a June hosta that was reverting to the mother hosta. It was a medium plant. We dug the entire hosta out, very heavy. It was recommended to water it the day before so it would pull out a bit more easily. After dividing out the reverted leaves which made a Halcyon hosta for me (the mother hosted), I replanted the June, planted the Halcyon and then planted a leftover piece of the June crown, which started a whole new plant.

Want the green leaves out, those are Halcyon

Bert’s grimace shows how heavy it was

Breaking pieces apart after taped

Planted this in another spot and it started growing as well.

it’s hard work, but worth it. Good luck! Welcome to the hosta forum! If you post pictures of your hostas that you don’t know the names of, we can often help with that.

debra