Yes, it can be done :-) But not now. That is a type of Miscanthus, Chinese silver grass, a warm season grass that will not respond well to division this late into the season. Wait until late winter or early spring after you have cut it back hard. Then use an old saw - I use an old pruning saw saved just for this purpose - and cut it into pie shaped wedges and transplant, share, or discard the sections as you see fit. The larger the clump is, the more pie shaped wedges you will have :-)

A sharpened, straight edged shovel/spade will also work but IME, you really have to jump on it to get it to go through the rootball very easily.

Two garden forks, back to back will pry it apart.

Pictures

Once you get the first pie piece out, the rest come out fairly easily.

A Sawzall works really well for dividing miscanthus. And I found using hedge trimmers to cut large ornamental grasses down in late winter is SO much easier than hand pruners. The older I get, the more I look for power tool options. Saves time and my body.

Yes dig and divide it in early spring after it has been cut down for the season (with a hedge trimmer - you bet.) Depending on your soil it should be easy enough to dig up starting on the outside of the clump. A hand pruning saw on the root ball can be most useful tool for this operation.

At eight years old I bet it is hollow inside, the center having died out and is already pre-divided.

Added: Fire is also another fun way of mowing down the Miscanthus when they are setting out in the yard all alone. Fire will also clean out the crown and come spring when it begins stirring you will know exactly what parts of the clump are alive.

Do you want to keep this plant in your garden? You're not obligated to keep every plant that came with your home and as you get to know the garden it's okay to delete some. Dividing and replanting the sections means you'll have even more of these to deal with in the future.

This is why I stopped growing miscanthus years ago/ Way too much work and it just keeps getting bigger.

what teresa_or said - I used a sawzall with a 9" or 12" pruning blade and cut the wedges up. The shovel did not work at all, cutting into the clump, even working thru the dead center.

Sawzall works great for bamboo, so I'm not surprised to see it recommended for this. Plus, it's a fun tool to have if you don't already.

Beautiful grass, though. I see why you planted it in the first place.

"it's okay to delete some. Dividing and replanting the sections means you'll have even more of these to deal with in the future."

Which is specifically why I mentioned sharing or discarding any excess in my comment :-)

Done well, the part of the grass you want to keep is never dug up.

Christopher, hope all is well for you ’outside Clyde’. Looks like you got walloped yesterday.

Christopher, I'm sure your garden will love all the extra water. Nice that you don't end up with standing water. I've never been in an area that had flash floods. And on the news locally, we will see flooded downtown areas in some towns and some cars stuck in water up to the hood going under an overpass. That's about it. Flooding on the coast during storms that do damage. Lots of wind damage with downed trees sometimes. But having 30 people suddenly go missing in a flash flood? Wow that's scary.

Not big on sticking my Sawzall into the dirt (I use it for cutting frozen turkeys in half, after all), I've divided big grasses like that with an axe. Pretty quick work.

Can't you just dig out the outside perimeter and leave the core intact? That's what I plan to try with mine -- I have to get to it this fall. Or early spring at the latest -- the ones by my front door are really overgrown.

The advice I've seen is always divide grasses in spring. Do people divide in fall successfully?

What about transplanting smaller grasses in fall? I've planted newly purchased plants in fall with success.

Grasses are divided into cool season growers or warm season growers. The cool season growers can be planted pretty much any time other than midsummer and divided in spring or fall. Warm season grasses - like the Miscanthus - are best planted in spring (although early summer works too). Because they start to enter dormancy in late summer as temps cool, they stop root extension and development and any late season planting and dividing is risky. Best to wait for spring.

Cool season vs. warm season grasses