- 1). Identify a large, mature plant for division. Generally, plants that are three to four years old are best, as much older plants have a more tightly woven root structure, and are harder to divide.
- 2). Cut a circle straight into the earth six inches from the "crown," or the top of the root system which sticks out of the ground where it meets the stems, using a spading fork or a spade.
- 3). Pry up the circular clump you have just cut, and pull it out of the ground.
- 4). Place the plant and its clump of roots in a bucket of water, and swish it around to get as much of the dirt off of the roots as you can.
- 5). Dump out the dirty water and replace it, then put the roots of the plant back in to clean them some more. Separate the clumps of roots gently as you clean to see where the natural divisions in the root clump are.
- 6). Pull any single stems with easily identifiable division on the crown off of the main clump and put them aside.
- 7). Pull the clump in half once you have taken away all of the stems which come away easily. Keep pulling the clump into smaller divisions until you have the desired number of plants, making sure not to damage the stems as you pull.
- 8). Plant the newly divided hostas right away in 6- to 8-inch holes, and soak thoroughly every day for the next couple of weeks to minimize the shock of division and transplanting.
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