The typical method of dividing daylilies is to dig up the whole plant, cut it into two to four sections with a spade or knife, and replant those groupings individually. It’s a simple way to take one large plant and turn it into two or four plants. Some people are happy with that.
Daylilies can be divided into even more sections pretty easily. It takes a little more time than just cutting the group into a few pieces, but the result is many more plants! If you have a backyard nursery, or you just like the idea of having even more daylilies, you should try this out.
Instead of just cutting the large clump into a few pieces, you want to take the whole thing and shake the soil out of the roots. If it’s too large to shake, split it into a couple of sections first. Separate each fan, or individual plant by carefully pulling them away from the grouping one at a time. Try to untangle the roots a little to separate the entire fan, roots and all. Some clumps may be root-bound and seem really stuck together, but they are very resilient. Tearing or cutting some of the roots while separating them won’t hurt.
Cutting the tops and roots down to 4 or 5 inches in length before replanting makes the divisions more manageable. Pruning the roots will also ensure that they aren’t bunched up when planted, and will actually stimulate root growth.
After dividing the daylilies, it is a good idea to allow them to sit out and air dry for a few days before replanting them. Without this drying period, the wound on each fan where it was separated from the rest will be a good environment for disease, insects or rotting. Professional growers will leave the cuttings out in the sun for a few days to allow the wound to callous over and dry out. Some even throw them in a huge bin and leave them there for the whole winter, in a cool building such as a barn.
Daylilies will grow best if planted in the ground, and 6-8 inches of space between the cuttings will do. Not only will this save a lot of room, but when the plants start to fill in they will block a lot of the sun, making it harder for weeds to grow.
Hi Mike, We are in N.Carolina. I’m in need of your opinion. It’s still in the 40’s mostly at night but daytime fluctuates from 50’s to 70’s. We won’t have cool weather till probably next December. Do you think it’s still cool enough to divide our daylillys.The weather was just stormy and now there completely grown out. Your opinion is appreciated. Thanks,
Keith and Mary,
Daylillys are very forgiving, I’m sure you’ll be fine if you do them now.
Hi Mike, I am losing my day lily bed to home expansion. I want to save them and replant next spring in a new bed. Can I dig them out, split, clean and trim them for winter storage. I plan on using burlap bags and peat moss for storage in the garage. Will this plan work? Thx Ed
Ed,
I would probably work if you could keep them from freezing, but still very cool. I’d dig them, divide them, allow them to air dry for at least a day, then heel back in until spring and move in early spring.
We planted trees last week. I dug up all my daylillies in hopes to save them. Should I plant now? Or is it ok to wait until spring? Or are they a total lose? I’ve stored them in buckets in the garage where it won’t freeze. I live in West Texas where it’s 78 one day and 32 the next in January…
Thanks
Lindsay,
Storing them for a bit is good to let the cut areas on the roots heel up but after that I’d plant them first chance you get. They should do just fine.
I had a butterfly bush in the middle of a day lily bed. This year it started putting out a few new sprouts and died. Is it possible the day lilies choked it out the bed was about 4 ft all the way around and kinda thick. thanks
Lela, I doubt that the daylillies killed it. It could have dried out. Daylillies are tough as nails, Butterfly bush not so much.
Hey, I have some Daylily plants and I was thinking about propagating them and resale-ing them. What about the hybrids? I read that these particular one may have rights to them?
Mike, Love your site. Does the book “Back Yard Gardening” have all these tips in it? A while back you showed a video of dividing plants by using a saw. I thought I had saved it, but now am unabe to pull it up on my computer. I have the one where you use the knife to cut through the roots, I just really liked the other one. I have my neighbor all hyped up about your site and wanted to send it to her. Any way toget other version? Thanks Mike and keep up the good work. Elayne. PS now that I have retired I’m putting in a small green house. I love plant and just finished my new home. I have 11 acres. I’m 80 about time I got around to this.
Does your website cover the laws, by state, that growers have to follow in order to sell plants. I’m in Mississippi and I just did a quick internet search and found that a large number of plant cannot be shipped from out of state without some type of special state inspection certification from the state from where they are being shipped.
Charlie, all of that is covered in my Backyard Growing System, http://freeplants.com/wanted.htm, and it’s not as complicated as it sounds. We have growers shipping all over the country.
Enjoyed the video. Very informative. I live in SC. Can I divide my daylillies now and leave them to dry over the winter then plant them in early Spring? Will they bloom next year if I do?
Thanks for your help.
Mary
Gardner in SC
have enjoyed your website for a couple of years now.
love the information on gardening. anything about flowers,
trees and vegetables. I have been having good luck on
starts from double knock-out roses
Love that my husband shared your e-mails with me .I gathered seed pods from several daylillies this summer , have seen nothing on planting from seed . what is your experience?
Hi Mike!
I have loved your site since you started it. I started it at work then brought the site home to my home computer and still listen and read your wonderful lessons.
I have a few questions.
How late can you divide the hostas and daylillies. It has frosted here already. I usually divide in the spring when the sprouts come up. I cut back every late fall and they seem to get bushier. But I love the idea of doing it in the fall. Also what about dividing ‘sedums’ in late fall after frost?
Thanks Mike for all your help to this once non-green thumb woman!
Beth
Thank you Mike, I’m an old gardener who has been without land for a few years,but have just gotten 2 acres in S.C. so look out. Can hardly wait to try out a lot of your hints!! Thanks again.
thanks thia was very helpful day lillies are aways beautiful
I’m in Mississippi and I’m currently attempting to prepare ground to start a backyard nursery. 3 questions– 1. Does all of my area need to be in full sun? 2. Should I till in peat moss or vermeculite and fertilizer (if so, what kind do you suggest)? 3. What’s the best way to water? I want to be sure everything is in order before I begin ordering plants from you. Also, when do I think about transferring plants or trees to containers and where do I get the containers?
Susan, questions specific to the Backyard Nursery business cannot be answered on this blog. I wish I could, but the providing that kind of information is how I get the financial support needed to keep my website and blog up and running. Thanks for understanding. Get my Backyard Growing System. The price is very affordable and with that you get a sea of information about starting and operating a Backyard Nursery. http://freeplants.com/wanted.htm
Mike, I am on dial up–which is all that I can get where I live. I have tried wireless,and that was an expensive disaster that did not work at my location either. Your videos take forever for me to download and then they come in spurts that you can’t understand. How do I go about getting a written version of some of your videos?
I am particulary interested in the
division of plants like how to divide daylilies
Pauline,
I would suggest visiting the library to watch some of the videos.
-Duston
Pauline, you can go to the library and watch my videos there, and you can find all kinds of written info at http://freeplants.com.
Pauline—try telling the video to play and as soon as it starts put it on pause then go away for as long as you think it will take it to “play through ” with all the breakups and sqwaks —as soon as it is done click it to play again—-most of the time it will play all the way through clear as a bell…….I found it worked for me when I had dialup–good luck
Thank you for guidance and making this task doable. I had all but given up.
Jeannie
Hi Mike – thanks for that -I have become a daylily addict. Question: do you ever overwinter them in pots? I have some that i bought and potted temporarily, but now I may run out of time. How late can one plant out in the fall? Thanks – Anna
Anna, just pack some mulch around the pots or dig a hole and drop the pot in the hole. They’re pretty tough.
Hi Mike enjoyed your daylily info thanks. How about one on how to get them to bloom. I have several and have divided them in hopes that they would bloom but still no flowers:0( Carol
What Margie said; plus now I know what happened to my last daylilies. Thanks.
Thank you for this info on dividing daylilies. I had no idea that they could be divided up this way. It is great to know about the drying out period as well.
MIchelle
Loved this, very informative. Now, I need to get to work! Thank you, Mike!
I do appreciate your emails and videos, as soon as I can I would like to purchase your gardening book. I will need you address to send you a check to do so. I don’t have credit cards anymore. If you would kindly forward me your address I would greatly appreciate it.
Thank You so much, Billie Ann Causey
You can send a check to:
McGroarty Enterprises, Inc.
PO Box 338
Perry, OH 44081
Mike, I have learnd a lot from this session. Keep up the good work.
Thank You
Hi Mike Just had to say thank you for your honesty and integrity. Am so glad I found your site. Have learned so much in just a few days. Keep the faith. Thanks Marta
Dear Mike, Thank yousomuchfor all your tips. I am a recent widow who loves gardening. I am currently sitting on 2 acres that would be ideal for following your growing system. I am going to start dividing my daylilies right away. Thanks for everything!
Thanks for the info this is great. Is it ok with you if I use this for training kids who are interested in gardening?
also is this the way you cut & divide all perinial plants?
thanks Deborah
Mike,
The part about leaving the roots to dry makes total sense. I learn something from all your videos – you are a horticulture class act.
Thanks!
I was just thinking about dividing my daylilies. Now I know I will this weekend.. Thank you so much for the instructions.
Hello,
I was wondering if the same technique can be ysed to seperate Agapanthis as you do for the Daylillies?
I have some that I would like to seperate, but dont know when to do it or what technique to do
Thanks Mike for the video on daylilies, I think you just made our garden club life a little easier.
Mike
I have alot of daylilies and some are fairly new(in the spring) I am putting them in my grow bed . I was wondering,did you just rip them apart or are they already 3 separate plants? Mine have such long roots just being in the grow bags since the spring. Should I divide them now and cut the roots or leave them be till spring and then divide some and keep some to sell, large, the way they are
I has no able to view the video on how to divide ornamental grass or the on on how to divide daylilies………
Cant afford your book. fixed income. I love your site and enjoy reading everything. I am trying to grow day lilies
Thanks for the tip. I was just about to divide mine. I hope they bloom next Spring.
Paula
I really enjoy watching you with your plants. Clears away the cold weather blues, brings hope, and nourishes the soul.
Thank you so much for the tips on the daylilies. I did not know what to do with them.
Sincerely,
SAG
Mike,
Will this severe pruning of daylilies work in Zone 3? I’m in Alaska. I am wondering if they will be able to recover in order to establish roots to make new bulbs.
Thank you Mike. You are so helpful to me by providing many such gardening tips as this one. I also bought your book on how to propagate plants.
Great helpful book. Thanks again. (you are super! )
Sheila Rae
Hi Mike, Thanks for the lesson on daylillies. Really helpful. What about Irises? I’ve purple Irises. Wow! Have they multiplied. My soil is so rich(composted leaves, woodchips, chicken droppings)everything grows like crazy. Need to find more recipients for my bounty. God is so very good. Thanks again Mike and if you have any lessons for Irises, I’d appreciate it. God bless you and your family. AnnMarie
I have divided my irises the same way I do daylillies. They, too, are very hardy so you can split them very easily. I also let my irises dry out before replanting. Interestingly, I left a clump of them in a pot one year and forgot about them. They were left outside all winter (and it gets very cold here). I was amazed that they bloomed the next spring along with the ones I had planted. So go ahead and divide and don’t forget to share your bounty!
Mike, I would love to know how to divide daylilies but I can never get your videos to work for me.
Hi Mike: Thanks for your tip on how to divide daylillies. Simple. Thanks for the tip – now I have to get busy and do that. bls
your videos are always informative and so interesting. Thx
Nice video on “How to divide Daylillies”
Thank you very much.
Yours,
Steve Draper
Mike, we really enjoyed your tips on separating day lillies. Would Pampas Grass divide the same way?
Also, we are in north Texas and need to know which blue berry plants grow in this area? We have clay soil, mixed in Canadian Spaghm Moss and watered them well, and had no luck.
Also, while my friends who live near by have asparagas to throw away, we have planted new roots every year for about 5 years, and it never goes beyond the small fern like stage. We have cut it to ground level as the directions said and it still never gets thicker. What am I doing wrong?
Thank you Mike.
Kris Kirk
To find which blueberries will work best for you, visit your County Extension Agency. They will let you know which varieties you can grow successfully in your area.
Mail order and even ‘big box stores’ will sell you anything that they can. Only buy what will grow best in your area.
Do a soil test (County Extension Agency… dig-up enough dirt to fill a soup can from a few spots where you want to plant. Take the dirt with you to the extension agency) to determine the needs of your soil (specify that you want to plant blueberries in the sampled soil). After you get the sample results back, ammend the soil as needed.
Mulch should be used around your plants, to help reduce water loss due to evaporation. About 2and a half or 3 inches of mulch is usually enough to get the job done. Don’t put it right-up against the stems of your plants, because it can damage the plants if it is covering their stems. Also, make sure the mulch is not over 4 inches deep (that could prevent water from getting to your plants and reduce the exchange or air to the soil (roots like a bit of aereation, Worms help make that happen. Compost helps make them happy).
Good luck, and enjoy growing lots of plants.
Lester White
Your videos are interesting and informative. I always learn something! I live in Las Vegas and thought I’d share. The summer heat here is intense & brutal. Water is scarce. We also have a very short, cold-winter, dormant season. The good news is we can have lush gardens if we plan carefully. Daylilies grow well here and I have several exceptional varieties. I use a direct drip system and protect their moisture needs with plenty of mulch. However, even my desert-hardy daylilies die off when the summer heat is exceptionally intense. It is the perfect time to divide them & let them “rest” in an indoor location. (I use a cardboard box in my laundry room.) When the temperature drops below 90, the “babies” can go back in the ground, a pot, or be given away. They have plenty of summer growing time left, are usually well-established by Fall, and most of the new plants will bloom in the Spring and early Summer. This might help others who don’t have the luxury of milder summers, humidity, water, and a longer dormant season.
Mike i really enjoy all of you tips and have added much knowledge to my previous experience. I worked at a nursery and also learned a lot there. I dug up some day lillies that i thought were dead. I put them in pots to see if they would regenerate. I was amazed at how fast they came back. I took them to my mother-in-law to put in her small garden. I too dig mine up and seperate and replant them. Thank you for being here. Keep up the good work. Sincerely, Cathy Cassidy.
Very interesting! I knew day lilies were hardy, but had no idea that you could cut them back like that and actually let them ‘dry’ before you put them in the ground.
Thank you very much for your insight!!
Shawn Lanphere
Thanks so much for the info. Now I need to get to work.