I think September is a real pivot point in the garden. At this time of year I’m partly making plans for next year. I’m also trying to eke things out for now. I’m deadheading, feeding, removing old leaves. Anything to keep the plants with colour going while the weather cools and summer slips into the rear-view mirror. September is also a moment when you can really have some fun, increasing your stock of plants for free. I do this through dividing some and taking cuttings of others. So this week I thought I’d share my thoughts on how to divide hostas. Next week I’ll cover off taking cuttings.
But if you don’t have hostas and don’t like them, please still read on. As you will see, the division technique can be used to divide other perennial plants such as heucheras.
Why Divide Hostas
I divide hostas for a number of reasons. The first is if they’re becoming too congested in their spot. The clump has perhaps outgrown its space or, as in the case with many of my hostas, they’re bursting out of their containers.
When a hosta grows large, it can become really crowded. Suddenly, what was a handsome specimen making a real show in your garden loses its vigour. It’s too big for the water and nutrients in a spot. What’s more, if it’s planted in a border, the other plants nearby may also start to suffer. Suddenly that hosta is a bit of a bully – too big for its boots, and your bed!
In addition to solving the problem of crowding, dividing a plant has a number of other benefits.
It’s a good way to clean up the plants, and remove dead bits – which can often lurk annoyingly slap bang in the middle of the plant.
Dividing injects vigour back into the mother plant. Lastly, it gives you an opportunity to easily get new plants. And who doesn’t like a free way to get more plants.
So how to divide hostas – and when?
Timing
As a general rule of thumb you divide summer flowering plants in spring (Mar-May) or autumn (Sep-Nov). However, I would put the task off until the spring if the autumn is wet.
I think it’s really logicial why you don’t divide these plants in the summer. After all that’s when we expect them to produce lovely blooms and do most of their growing. The plants are already under a heap of strain doing all this. Why add to that by dividing them then too! That’s the plant equivalent of getting married, changing job and moving house all at the same time – very stressful!!
Fair enough, I hear you say, so we don’t do this division in summer, but why divide my hostas now instead of spring? Well if I’m honest it’s because I’m often busy with other tasks in the spring. I forget until it gets too late! Whereas now, with less going on, I’ve time to carefully look at everything and asess what’s worked, what’s been a bit of a mess and if I’m dividing to increase my stock, what I want more of.
Also, if I’m dividing hostas because they have become too congested, I can find it hard to judge how big the plant will be when looking at it in the spring! My visualisation skills are terrible! Whereas looking at a hosta like the one below in September you can see quite easily where it will quite naturally divide up.
How to Divide Hostas
So how to divide hostas? It couldn’t be easier.
Step 1: Using a garden fork, or if the hosta is in a pot perhaps a trowel, gently pry the clump up.. Take care to get as much of the root system as possible.
Step 2: Shake off the excess soil so you can see what’s what.
Step 3: Gently tease the roots apart. I typically use my hands for this as it’s easy to do with a hosta (or heuchera) which has quite fibrous roots. I also do less damage and I have more control over what’s happening if I do this by hand. However, if the roots are very tough to tease apart, I will use forks back to back to lever the plant apart.
If you’re dividing a woody perennial with more of a web of roots, such as an achillea, you may need to divide it up with a spade as you’ll do a cleaner job.
Step 4: The number of divisions you make depends on what you’re dividing the plant for. If you are simply trying to reduce a clump, dividing it into two may be enough.
To increase your stock of a favourite hosta put half the clump back in its original spot and continue to divide the remaining half into a series of smaller divisions. However, remember each division needs a decent amount of root. And if you are doing this in the spring, check each division also has a few (1-3) buds.
Step 5: Quickly replant the section of your hosta that’s to return to its original position, firming the soil around it and giving it a good water. I also put a bit of mulch around it for good measure. Typically I use Strulch – wonderfully malty/marmitey mulch which slugs and snails hate. It’s not cheap so I only use it to mulch my hostas!
Step 6: Plant out or pot up your spare plants – again do this quickly and give them a good water and a loving mulch!
Step 7: Keep an eye on your hostas and keep them well watered. They will need more water if grown in pots as they’re soley reliant on you for food and water.
There – how easy is that!
Top Tip: If I’m planning on keeping the hosta division in a container, at this time of year I won’t pot it up into a fancy pot. This is because hostas will soon die back over winter and it will just look like a container full of soil (and strulch!). So I’ll tuck it out of the way in a cheap plastic pot until the hosta starts pushing through the soil again next year. At that point I’ll put it in a smarter pot where it will continue to live all year round.
Little Heuchera Tip…
If I’ve a heuchera in a container, in combination with something else, and the combo has worked brilliantly, I will often take the heuchera out of the container now, to divide it up – in exactly the same way as I do hostas.
I’ll do this to refresh it. After all it has been competing with the other plants in the pot for nourishment. But I’ll also do this because, like Oliver Twist, I want more!
However, I won’t put any of it back in the original container – yet. I’ll grow the mother heuchera and babies on, keeping them each in separate pots on their own until late next spring. I’ll then use the plants either to repeat the combination that has worked so brilliantly this year, or to try something new – or a bit of both.
For instance you may recall that back in May I planted up this summer container.
Well, the heuchera in the planter (called Ginger Ale) having performed beautifully is now looking rather tired – it has definitely lost its fizz. That’s a shame as it’s a real beauty. I think I had it in too sunny a spot. So I’ve lifted it, used this as an opportunity to divide it up, and planted up the mother plant and divisions in individual pots as you can see below. I’ll bring these on for the rest of 2022 and well into 2023.
Next year I’ll put one back in the planter – which I’ll move (or maybe just turn) so that the heuchera isn’t in so much sun. I’ll use the other divisions in other planters – or pop them in the garden.
I’ve done the same with a heuchera called Boysenberry which you can see below. Don’t be fooled by the droopy look of some of the smaller plants. They’ll be perky as anything next year!
If you don’t believe me, look at the photo below. A couple of years ago I did exactly the same thing with my heuchera Fire Chief. And now you can see the happy healthy progeny creating this superb September display. I think the contrast with the Japanese Blood Grass is superb. (Another plant I divided this time last year!)
So if you haven’t yet divided up a hosta or a heuchera or something else and have one you love which you want more of – or perhaps you have a clump that’s far too crowded, do give it a go…Happy gardening X
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