Special Story Board Illustrating Dividing Hostas Next Two Pages!!
Story Board #1 ~ Story Board #2

Division & Renovation

I often hear gardeners talk about how they handle division of hosta clumps. I usually grab my heart, pass out for a while, then finally recover and reassure my hostas that they will not be subjected to such a terrible injury. True, hostas are an extremely durable perennial. But, if done correctly, newly divided plants will leaf out more and be of more substantial size than those that are just hacked upon by a dull shovel. But first, let me recount to you a true story illustrating the truly remarkable hardiness of the hosta.

In the spring of 1997, I was increasing one of my propagation beds. Forgetting that I had planted a hosta close to the end of the existing bed, I proceeded to rear tine roto-till through the corner. Not just once, but probably six times. About a month later, I saw these rather curious weeds (forget the expression) in about a 2 foot by 4 foot area. I was elated. There was about 20 undulata 'Albo-marginata' plantlets (and I do me plantlets) growing! The roto-tiller had chewed the mother clump into pieces, burying them up to 8 inches deep. And yet, they had the awesome will to survive. Nature finds a way!

When dividing, be of strong heart! They will 'be back', and you will have more to enjoy!

When To Divide

On the subject of division, I am very conservative. I prefer to divide no later than the middle of June. My first pick for divisions is just as the shoots are sticking up, just prior to the leaves opening up. I will list my reasons below.

• No foliage will be in the way when dividing. You will have clear view of the basal plate. Additionally, there will be no foliage to damage when dividing. Many kinds of cultivars (e.g. Hosta 'Stiletto') will have the below the surface leaf stem snake atop the basal before deciding to come skyward. This characteristic will be hard to see with all of the leaves in the way.
• The initial leaves will grow in proportion to the roots available after division. I have received some cuttings that were from larger plants in June. The mother clump was large, but the available roots could not support such large leaves. Hence, leaves would die because they could not be supported.
• The secondary leaves will be the same size (at least not smaller) as the initial leaves. The secondary leaves will come out in proportion to the available roots. This always means that the secondary leaves will be much smaller than the initial leaves if the cutting was done with the leaves opened.
• The plant will have one more month to develop it's root system prior to going dormant.

How To Divide

Not to fear, you will get the hang of it after 1-2 clumps. Now realizing that the dull shovel method 'seems' to work for most gardeners you won't kill your plant! You cannot do any worse that this method. Yet they do 'survive'. Take heart and dig in!

• Completely remove the clump from the ground.
• Wash all dirt from above the basal plate. The basal plate is the woody layer just above the roots. It is where the leaves are attached. Wash it clean.
• Don't wash the dirt off the roots below the basal plate. We are trying to have an end product produce the strongest, largest plant after surgical division. I have found that my trying to minimize the disturbance to the roots below the basal plate, the new cutting will be larger.
• Massage the crown to see if any small clumps will naturally fall from the mother clump.
• You will probably be able to get 2-5 divisions that have enough root system to support the cutting. Examine the basal plate. You will be able to see natural divisions where to cut. The new leaf spikes or eyes will guide you.
• Before cutting, dip your knife in bleach to prevent the spread of any pest of disease to other plants.
• Before cutting, check the underneath to be sure that your cutting will have roots attached to it. You will be able to 'guess' at this if you are cutting pieces from the edge.
• Cut away!
• Plant immediately. Do not let the exposed roots dry out. Remember the end product.
• I had lost several cuttings (10 out of 400 cuttings) to crown rot. The crown rot was traced back to three original clumps. So I have to believe that there was something already on the clump, or the cuttings were getting a bit to small and exposed too much fresh 'flesh'. I am considering locating the proper anti-fungal etc. spray to help prevent the occasional crown rot. I will update you with the research.
• Dogwood Farm in Indiana washes all dirt from the clump, then soaks the plant in a 9 part water to 1 part bleach solution for 30-60 minutes to prevent crown rot. I would prefer not to so completely disturb the root system and find some other alternate means of crown rot control.

Special Story Board Illustrating Dividing Hostas Next Two Pages!!
Story Board #1 ~ Story Board #2