Species that should be divided in spring (every 1 - 3 years):
- Asters (frequent division advised; replant small, healthy pieces from the outside of the clump)
- Foxglove beardtongue (use spade or pitchfork)
- Bee balm (discard old central clump)
- Cardinal flower (discard old central clump)
- Coral bells (discard old central clump)
- Foamflower (divide by hand)
- Hyssop (carefully divide woody roots)
- Joe Pye weed (slice woody crown with knife)
- Liatris (cut into sections with sharp knife)
- Marsh marigold (after flowering--May or June)
- Obedient plant
- Sneezeweed
- Sunflower (regular division improves vigor)
- Coreopsis (cut crown apart with sharp knife)
- Violets (divide by hand)
- Yarrow (discard old woody core)
Species that should be divided in spring (every 4 – 6 years):
- Black-eyed Susan (divide using spade or pitchfork; will re-seed; can also be divided in fall)
- Culver’s root
- Echinacea (cut crown apart with sharp knife; will re-seed; can also be divided in early fall)
- Goldenrod (divide using spade or pitchfork; can also be divided in fall)
- Spiderwort
- Stonecrop (divide by hand)
- Turtlehead (when young offshoots are 1” high, use spade to separate them from the parent plant)
- Virginia bluebells
- Wild ginger (use sharp knife to cut the rhizome)
These species should rarely be divided, but can be divided in spring:
- Bleeding heart (cut crown apart with sharp knife; be careful when handling brittle roots)
- Columbine (dig deep to get all tapering, finger-like roots)
- Cranesbill/wild geranium (cut or pull apart)
- False blue indigo (difficult to re-establish, dig deep to remove entire root system)
- Jacob’s ladder (divide by hand)
- Meadow rue (slow to recover from division)
- Milkweed (taproot is deep and brittle; take care and cut crown apart with sharp knife)
- Rose mallow (can divide in fall also)
- Black snakeroot (discard woody central clump; slow to recover)
- Solomon’s seal (use sharp knife to cut up knobby rootstock)
- Trillium (does not like disturbance
Most ferns and sedges can be divided annually or as needed in spring:
- Cinnamon fern
- Lady fern (use sharp knife to cut rootstock; can also be divided in fall)
- Maidenhair fern
- Ostrich fern (use sharp knife or pruner to cut the rhizome connecting individual plants)
- Sensitive fern (can be divided in fall as well)
Divide sedges with a spade or pitchfork
Jack-in-the-pulpit offshoots should be divided in fall after the plant goes dormant
Learn more about Gardening With Native Plants
Learn more about Landscaping for Biodiversity with Ohio Native Plants: A Species Guide for Plantings