So many of us who grow daylilies have hostas as well. They don't automatically go together, if you think about it -- daylilies do best in sun, and hostas are generally shade plants -- but there you are.
Spring is the best time of year to divide our too-big perennials, and hostas can present a real challenge once they get large: the roots are thick and tough.
A few years back, my friend Deb clued me in to using a drywall saw to slice through hosta roots, and this works beautifully. A drywall saw can be found in any hardware store and is usually less than $10; and if you don't leave it outside to rust (I plead guilty), it will last a long time.
Here's a series of photos to give you visual step-by-step instructions:
1. The aforementioned handy-dandy drywall saw
2. With the drywall saw, slice into the roots to make as large a division as you want. Some of my garden beds have lots of little stones (I live in the Granite State, you know ;-), and that can present a challenge in itself, but I have yet to break a sawblade.
3 & 4. Then with a spade (a transplanting shovel works really well), dig that division out.
5. The piece taken out, ready to be planted elsewhere.
If you like, that division can be divided again into smaller chunks; as long as you have a few healthy shoots with good roots, it will grow.
Fill in the hole, of course; plant your division(s) and water in well.
You're done!
Thank you Dhabi! Even before I realized which blog was sending me one of the most useful posts EVER I was thinking about all the dividing I haven't done in the past for lack of confidence. Step by step with photos! Thank you my dear.
ReplyDeleteIsn't it funny? I have a "bed" along the driveway full of hostas alternated with daylilies. They both seem happy; perhaps not ecstatic, but happy.
ReplyDeleteHannah, if only I knew how to plant each photo on the page just above each numbered instruction, this would be so much better! -- but I'm glad you find it useful. That little saw works great for dividing many more plants than hostas, too.
ReplyDeleteJill, you're right, they pair off so well ... I've got a bed like that too. It works because the particular hostas don't complain about the sun.