I live in CT. Can I dig up and divide my hostas now (August)? They're a mess!?

Question

Thanks for all the help! To answer Bugsy (I can't seem to email) by "a mess" I mean the leaves are in poor shape, and there's a ton of grass growing up through the plants. We just moved into the house about a month ago and I'm kind of making do with what's here until Spring, but I just can't stand looking at it anymore! The plants line the front walkway and it looks so unkept and overgrown. I think I'll go for it-

Answer 1

I agree with mel hosta's are just a plant that wont die you could go ahead and divide now but the biggest point is if the weather gets hot you need to protect them a little bit more with making sure they are watered and shaded I think transplanting in the heat is hard but do able.Good luck!

Answer 2

You can as long as they get plenty of water for two weeks after transplanting. If you can't, then I recommend that you wait until next spring when the hostas are smaller to handle. It also depends of if these hostas have already flowered. If so, then go ahead. If not, I suggest that you give them another week or two before splitting. I hope that this has helped. :)

Answer 3

Go for it. Your temps should be cool enough that the roots have time to establish themselves before the cold weather sets in. What you don't want is a lot of new growth, then a heavy frost, so don't fertilize after transplanting.
Water well after dividing to settle the soil around them and then once a week or so depending on temps in your area.
Hope this helps.

Answer 4

Yes, I just did this in the last couple of weeks. Hostas are virtually impossible to kill!
The problem is, you will not have beautiful hostas again untill next year.

You will simply dig them up replant them, and then cut them off down close to the roots. We replanted 8-10 inch hostas and they are now about 2 inches tall. They look like new starts and are very healthy.

The guy who gave us the starts didn't cut his off, and they look dead. Who knows, they may come up again next year!

Answer 5

I only live a little North in Tewksbury Massachusetts, But really I would wait until late September to divide!
Hey, what constitutes a mess?
Snails, slugs, heat????
Some stuff can be fixed you know. E-me we can go over the specifics!

Answer 6

I would seriously wait until early spring...depending upon the size, you can get three or four splits from the original plant...August is just too hot (not today with our cool streak), but if you must...all the water you can provide...like non-stop.

Answer 7

Hold off another month... There's BOUND to be another stretch of hot weather soon...-& you don't want to Stress those plants any more than you have to once you've moved them...