Dividing Hostas is best to be done in late summer during the month of August, or early September. If you divide your hostas in the summer, be sure to keep them well watered for a few weeks after to help absorb the shock of being transplanted. It is also important to allow for three to four weeks for the hostas to become established before the soil freezes.
You can tell when your hosztas need to be divided when you notice that they get too crowded and the center of the bunch begins to die. Faster growing varieties should be divided every three to four years to keep the plants their healthiest. Slower growing varieties may need longer.
If your hostas aren’t too large, dig out the entire plant. To do this, you can dig around the bunch of plants in a circle, then use your shovel like a lever to lift it out of the ground. Once the plant is dug up, you should be able to see that the bunch is actually made of many individual plants. Be careful as you break the bunch into sections made up of at least three sets of shoots.
If the hostas are too large to lift out of the ground, use your shovel to cut through the bunch into sections. Carefully dig out each group and replant them in the ground at the same depth they were growing before. As mentioned before, be sure that they are watered well.
Here’s a helpful hint: Experienced gardeners have found that it is easiest to divide the hostas using a garden fork or a flat spade.
Happy Hosta-Dividing!
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