Should I dig up my lilies? Is it something I must do now?

5 years ago

I have never done this before. But it seems the area where all my lilies grow has gotten crowed and the flowers this past summer were much smaller the usual.

Is this a must? How do I even go about it? I'm afraid to dig them all up. Do I re plant them, break them up? Please help.

Mike

Featured Answer

StevePA6a

5 years ago

Those little suckers are baby bulbs that you could replant somewhere else. I bury them about 2" deep and in two more years, you'll have a blooming lily.

Comments (8)

StevePA6a
5 years ago
Nothing to be afraid of, I'm always shuffling my lilies around. I find them to be quite easy to grow. Other than voles, and stem borers, the only time I lose them is when I try to stretch their limits for shade tolerance.

If yours are getting crowded, I'd consider that a sign that they're happy, and you could probably find some new homes for some of them now.

Otoh, if they are shrinking in size, I'd want to dig in there, and find out why-voles, rot, etc.
NHBabs z4b-5a NH
5 years ago
Are you talking about day lilies (Hemerocalli) with a fan of leaves a couple of feet tall and flowers on leafless stalks or true lilies that have bulbs and a single tall leafy stalk? How and when you divide would be a bit different For true lilies vs, day lilies. And there are a bunch of other plants withn”lily” as part of their name, so if you can add a photo in the comments or tell us which you have, that would be helpful.
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myermike_1micha
Original Author
5 years ago
last modified: 5 years ago
I am sorry should’ve specifically said Oriental lilies I have all kinds of fragrant Oriental lilies. I have an oriental lily patch about 3‘ x 5‘ big and it’s getting crowded I see little suckers coming up all the time. The flowers opened much more quicker than they could grow into huge fllowers this year. The were a lot smaller than usual. No where as big as the first couple of years I planted them (
dbarron
5 years ago
Oriental lilies usually aren't dug till November or December, you may be a bit early. They don't go dormant as fast as Asiatics.
NHBabs z4b-5a NH
5 years ago
last modified: 5 years ago
As soon as they turn yellow or brown, dig up the clumps, gently break apart since they will likely have roots, and replant immediately.. Have the spot prepared ahead of time. In my area (central NH) this will be in the next couple of weeks, but obviously in dbarron’s more southerly zone it will be later.

Is anyone else not seeing the locations and zone postings after folks’ names this morning?
ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
5 years ago
i dont think it an all or nothing deal .... just mark some of the offenders ... and dig those out .. leave some unaffected .... then.. for sure ... no matter how bad you screw it up ... some will be back ...

kenj
myermike_1micha
Original Author
5 years ago
I really appreciate the advice. My problem is that I just thought of it. If I dig them out, I will screw up the whole area because I am not sure which one were the weaker ones. This is nuts.

Should I pull out the little suckers along side the main plants? I got the main plants, then a bunch of little ones that did nothing along side of them.

Mike