Daylilies are incredibly pretty and this is why they have become so popular among gardeners. Many gardeners love caring for them in their gardens, and you might even wish that you could have more of them.
You don’t actually have to go out and buy more of them when you want to have more of them in your garden area. It’s possible to simply divide the daylilies to fill your garden with beauty.
If you’re new to the idea of dividing plants, then you might be worried about messing things up. Don’t worry because this process is actually fairly straightforward.
Keep reading to learn when to divide daylilies and how you’re supposed to do things. Once you have all of the necessary information, it’s going to be simple to have as many of them in your yard as you want.
When Daylilies Can Be Divided
You aren’t going to be able to divide daylilies all the time. This is only recommended to do every three to five years when you’re trying to keep them as healthy as possible.
Dividing is something that’s good for the plants, though. When you don’t divide them, they’re not going to grow as much as they should.
Eventually, you’ll start to notice that the daylilies are producing smaller flowers and you’ll see far fewer flowers than usual. This means that dividing them will be a very positive thing.
It’s also notable that there are different daylily varieties that you can look into. Some daylilies that are newer grow slower, and this means that they don’t need to be divided as often.
If you find the idea of dividing the daylilies to be tedious and off-putting, then you should go with the slow-growing variety. It’ll make it so that you won’t have to worry about dividing them very often at all.
That being said, dividing that daylilies can be a really good thing for your yard. You’ll have more of them at the end of the day, and this will add beauty to your yard.
The best time of the year to divide them will be in the early spring, but it’s also fine to do it in the late summer. You just can’t wait until too late in the year because you can’t allow the temperatures to get too cool.
Daylilies need a few weeks to establish themselves after being divided. If you try to divide them in the middle of the fall, then the results will not likely be good.
How to Divide Daylilies Properly
The act of dividing daylilies is pretty easy once you understand what you’re supposed to do. You want to dig up a clump of them using a garden shovel.
Once you’ve dug the clump up you want to gently pull the clump apart. Grab a sharp knife and start dividing the clumps.
Ideally, each of the divisions that you’re creating should have three fans of leaves, and you also want each clump to have a good set of roots. It’s really just about using your eyes and making good choices when making the cuts with your knife.
If you notice any rotten or damaged roots, then you’re going to want to discard them. You also might not wish to move forward with roots that are way too small.
After the clumps have been separated properly, it’s going to be time to cut the leaves down a bit. You want to cut the leaves down to between six and eight inches in height.
With this step finished, you’re going to need to put the daylilies back in the ground. Decide where you’re going to put the daylilies that you’ve divided and put them in the ground.
If you wait too long to put them back in the ground, it might cause the plants stress. Everything should be just fine if you’re moving at a reasonable pace, though, and you don’t necessarily have to rush yourself.
Planting the daylily clumps in the ground won’t be tough, but you do need to be mindful of the fact that the crown needs to be planted one inch under the ground. For reference, the crown refers to the point between the root and the shoot.
Remember that the soil that you’re planting the daylilies in needs to drain well. If you need to modify the soil to improve the drainage, then you should do that before putting them back in the ground.
It might be a good idea to add some compost to the soil to help the daylilies out. You’ll probably be fine if you just use standard garden soil, but using compost is still a good idea even if it isn’t necessary.
Water the daylilies as soon as you get them in the ground because they’re going to need it. You’ll just need to keep caring for them properly while they try to establish themselves after being divided.
Divided Daylilies Might Not Bloom for One to Two Years
One thing that you need to keep in mind is that divided daylilies might not bloom for one or two years. The daylilies are still bouncing back from being divided and they might not be capable of blooming.
Many people who are new to dividing plants will get very worried when something like this occurs. They might think that they did something very wrong to cause the plants not to bloom as they normally do.
Don’t worry about anything because it’s completely normal for daylilies to take a few years to bloom again. In some cases, they will bloom the next season, but if that doesn’t occur, you’ll just need to be patient.
Everything will get back to normal and they will look stunning again. You didn’t do anything wrong and you’ll just need to continue to care for the daylilies as normal.
Final Thoughts
Dividing daylilies is something that you’re going to do once every three to five years. There are some varieties that need to be divided less often than that, but those are newer varieties that you’d have to specifically seek out.
Being able to divide them has the potential to be very good for your yard. You can have more gorgeous daylilies in your yard when you take the time to do this.
It’s also good for the health of the daylilies because they’ll stop growing as well and they’ll produce smaller flowers if you don’t divide them every five years. Seeing fewer blooms than normal will be sad, and you’ll be able to avoid situations like this by just dividing them when it’s time to do so.
The dividing process is easy enough that you can do it even if you’re a beginner. You only need a garden shovel of some sort and a sharp knife to divide the plants.
Technically, you could divide the daylilies using a garden shovel as well if the shovel is sharp enough, but it’d be a lot easier to use a sharp knife. Simply follow the division advice above and you’ll surely get the results that you want.
Let your friends and family members know how simple it is to divide daylilies. If you ever wind up with more than you need, you can always try to give some to others who would appreciate them.
Growing up with a mom who filled her home (inside and out) with all sorts of plants, Lisa got her start in gardening at a young age. Living now on her own with a home and yard full of plants (including an indoor greenhouse), she shares all the gardening tips she’s gained over the years.