Monday, July 20, 2009

How To Split A Hosta Plant



The Hosta plant is sometimes called the, "Friendly Plant" as a result of the number of people willing to share their plant. My first hosta plant that I planted in my Kingdom was split from my parents garden. Before I split their plant, I asked the question, "How do you split a hosta plant without killing it?"

As I grew fonder of this easy to grow shade plant, I have learned that splitting hosta plants is a common practice shared my almost everyone who has this shade loving plant. The pictures below are a result of many friends dividing and sharing their hosta plants with me. My goal in this blog is to share some of the secrets (or not so secret) methods that I have used over the past 5 years to split my hosta plants.

One of the reasons I took so quickly to the, "Friendly plant" is due to it's strength and durability. It's my opinion that they gave it the wrong nickname, "Superplant" would have been more appropriate. I have found that I can split hosta plants anytime, anywhere and with anything.

My methods of splitting the hosta plant work well for me, see pictures below for proof. However, there are many methods and theories of HOW and WHEN to split a hosta plant.

Described below are my methods and seasons of splitting the friendly plant:

If it is spring, I look for the eyes of the plant protruding the earth. If I see at least 5 eyes, I know that I can split the plant. I take my flat spade and place it right in the center of the hosta plant. I always want at least 3 eyes when I divide. I then make sure that the hole I left is filled in with dirt and plant the other immediately. The reason I plant it immediately is that I always pre-plan where I'm going to replant.

If it is summer, I try to dig up the entire plant by digging a circle around the perimeter of the leaves. I find it easier to divide the roots once they are out of the ground. I take my flat spade, (I have also used a sharp knife, depending on the size of the hosta) and find the natural split in the roots. If there isn't a natural split, I look at the size of the root and try to divide proportionally. I have split one hosta as many as five times, again it all depends on the hosta size. If the hosta is to big to dig out, I move the leaves to look for the natural division of the plant. once I locate that, I place my flat spade right on the spot to divide. I then slowly push the spade in with my foot. If it is too dry, you may have to deploy at lot of power to break the surface of the plant.

My favorite time to split my hostas is in the fall when the flowers are gone and the leaves start to go dormant for the winter. I am able to visualize the locations for my new garden and insert the hosta where I want it while it is still above ground.

If you have a method that works well for you, pleases let me know and I will share it on my blog. Happy Hosta gardening!




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