{"id":301,"date":"2023-10-16T11:51:10","date_gmt":"2023-10-16T15:51:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/site.extension.uga.edu\/paulding\/?p=301"},"modified":"2024-01-08T16:12:42","modified_gmt":"2024-01-08T21:12:42","slug":"how-to-divide-perennial-flowers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/site.extension.uga.edu\/paulding\/2023\/10\/how-to-divide-perennial-flowers\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Divide Perennial Flowers"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Perennials grace our gardens year after year with their variety of brilliant colors and unique foliage forms. Perennials come in a variety of sizes, shapes and colors and can bloom from early April until late October.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Some excellent perennial flowers for the area include the following: Blanket Flower (<em>Gaillardia X \u2018grandiflora\u2019<\/em>); Foxglove (<em>Digitalis \u2018purpurea\u2019<\/em>); Rose Mallow (<em>Hibiscus moscheutos<\/em>); Hostas; Garden Phlox (<em>Phlox \u2018paniculata\u2019<\/em>); Coneflowers (<em>Echinacea sp<\/em>); Rudbeckia; Gerbera Daisy (<em>Gerbera jamesonii); <\/em>Shasta Daisy (<em>Leucanthemum x \u2018superbum\u201d<\/em>)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Perennials are relatively easy to care for, but they are not maintenance free. Watering, fertilizing, mulching and dividing are some of the tasks involved with the care of perennials. After a few years in the garden, perennials may start to produce smaller blooms, develop a &#8216;bald spot&#8217; at the center of their crown, or require staking to prevent their stems from falling over. All of these are signs that it is time to divide.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Reduced plant performance may not be the only reason to divide perennials.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Overcrowded plants compete for nutrients and water. Restricted airflow can lead to diseases.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Dividing the plants into smaller sections reduces this competition and stimulates new growth as well as more vigorous blooming.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Since plants grow at varying rates, division may be used to keep plants that spread rapidly under control.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Division is an easy and inexpensive way to increase the number of plants in your garden.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong><u>Guidelines for dividing perennials<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">When to divide<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Divide&nbsp;when the plant is not flowering so it can&nbsp;focus&nbsp;all of its energy&nbsp;on regenerating root and leaf tissue.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Divide perennials on a cloudy, overcast day as dividing on a hot sunny day can cause the plants to dry out.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Water the soil a day in advance if the area to be worked on is dry. Ideally, divide plants when there are a couple days of showers in the forecast to provide enough moisture for the new&nbsp;transplants.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>How to divide perennials<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ol class=\"wp-block-list\" type=\"1\">\n<li>Dig up the parent plant using a spade or fork.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Gently lift the plant out of the ground and remove any loose dirt around the roots.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Separate the plant into smaller divisions by any of these methods:&nbsp;<ol><li>Gently pull&nbsp;or&nbsp;tease&nbsp;the roots apart with your hands;&nbsp;<\/li><\/ol><ol><li>Cut&nbsp;them with a sharp knife or spade;&nbsp;<\/li><\/ol>\n<ol class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Or put&nbsp;two forks in the center of the clump, back to back, and pull&nbsp;the forks&nbsp;apart.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Each division should have three&nbsp;to five&nbsp;vigorous shoots and a healthy supply of roots.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Keep these divisions shaded and moist until they are replanted.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n<p>Divide spring and summer blooming perennials in the fall because<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>There is less gardening work to do in the fall compared with spring.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>It is easy to locate the plants that need dividing.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Perennials with fleshy roots such as Black-Eyed Susan (Rudbeckia hirta); Canna Lily (Canna) and Butterfly Weed (Asclepias tuberosa<a href=\"https:\/\/www.thespruce.com\/growing-butterfly-weed-in-your-garden-2539531\">)<\/a> are best divided in the fall.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>When dividing plants in the fall, time it for&nbsp;four to six weeks before the ground freezes for the plants roots to become established. &nbsp;&nbsp;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Divide fall blooming perennials in the spring because<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>New growth is emerging and it is easier to see what you are doing.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Smaller leaves and shoots will not suffer as much damage as full-grown leaves and stems.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Plants have stored up energy in their roots that&nbsp;will aid in their recovery.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Rain showers that generally come along with the early season are helpful.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Plants divided in spring have the entire growing season to recover before winter.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Divide hosta in spring before they get too large.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Check out UGA Extension Publication, Flowering Perennials for Georgia Gardens, <a href=\"https:\/\/extension.uga.edu\/publications\/detail.html?number=B944\">https:\/\/extension.uga.edu\/publications\/detail.html?number=B944<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The author of this article, Phillip Prichard, is a Paulding UGA Extension Master Gardener, trained to provide education for homeowners on horticulture, sustainable landscaping, and environmentally friendly gardening practices using unbiased, research-based information from the University of Georgia.&nbsp; For more information, contact Paulding County UGA Extension at 770-443-7616 or view our online resources at <a href=\"http:\/\/www.ugaextension.org\/paulding\">www.ugaextension.org\/paulding<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Perennials grace our gardens year after year with their variety of brilliant colors and unique foliage forms. Perennials come in a variety of sizes, shapes and colors and can bloom from early April until late October.&nbsp; Some excellent perennial flowers for the area include the following: Blanket Flower (Gaillardia X \u2018grandiflora\u2019); Foxglove (Digitalis \u2018purpurea\u2019); Rose [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":310,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[76,84,106],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-301","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-native-plants","category-pollinator-gardening","category-tools-gifts-gardening"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/site.extension.uga.edu\/paulding\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/301","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/site.extension.uga.edu\/paulding\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/site.extension.uga.edu\/paulding\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/site.extension.uga.edu\/paulding\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/310"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/site.extension.uga.edu\/paulding\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=301"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/site.extension.uga.edu\/paulding\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/301\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":305,"href":"https:\/\/site.extension.uga.edu\/paulding\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/301\/revisions\/305"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/site.extension.uga.edu\/paulding\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=301"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/site.extension.uga.edu\/paulding\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=301"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/site.extension.uga.edu\/paulding\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=301"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}