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Lifting and Dividing Bulbs, Corms,
Rhizomes, and Tuberous Roots
Time to Separate, Divide and Multiply
It’s time to learn how easy it is to lift and divide bulbs and roots so you’ll have landscapes and containers filled with beautiful flowers year after year.
Dormant bulbs don’t care whether they are in the soil in your garden or in storage in a nylon-net bag placed in a cool and dark indoor spot.
Take time to review why we lift bulbs and roots, when to do it, and the benefits of lifting [see: Thinning, Lifting, and Dividing Bulbs].
Next, examine your beds to see which bulb plants, tubers, rhizomes, or tuberous roots have become too crowded.
A clear sign of overcrowding is weak, struggling, or dead plants at the center of a large group.
Such large groups of rhizomatous and tuberous-rooted bulbs should be refreshed by lifting all of the plants and dividing them.
Replant only the vigorous stock back into the original location, or in other spots in your yard. A single colony may have enough plants for two or three new plantings besides those left at the source location.
You’re ready to learn how to lift and divide bulbs and how to divide bulbs and roots. Follow the step-by-step demonstration to lift and divide overcrowded colonies.
Step-by-Step Instructions
Bulbs need a period of semi-dormancy and rest after their foliage withers.
In regions with frequent summer rains, or in others with cold-winter climates, lift and store bulbs after they complete their growth cycle for the year.
Also lift bulbs in beds that are crowded. Dividing them, then cure and hold them for later planting.
Gather a garden fork, a fabric tarp or piece of burlap and follow these steps on a warm, sunny day:
How to Lift and Cure Bulbs
When foliage first begins to yellow, mark the location of the bulbs for lifting. Marking them before their foliage withers, dries, or is gone means you’ll find them easily a few weeks later.
Start lifting bulbs at the bed’s edge. Plunge a garden fork’s tines straight down into the soil, staying at least 1–ft. (30 cm) from the nearest marker. Lean back on the handle, lifting up the soil. Set the lifted soil aside. Work slowly towards the bulbs, watching carefully for them to appear.
When you start to see bulbs, change from vertical plunges to angling the fork into the soil. Push the fork under the bulbs and lift them up up to free them from the soil. Work carefully to avoid cutting through any bulbs.
Gently brush away any soil clinging to the bulbs. Set a tarp or burlap sackcloth in a shady, dry spot. Place the lifted bulbs onto the tarp or burlap sackcloth. Make a single layer, spacing the bulbs with room between them. Let them cure for 3-5 days. Rotating the bulbs daily during curing until they are dry overall.
Dividing Rhizomes and Tuberous Roots
Divide fleshy-rooted bulbous plants when colonies become crowded.
Lift and divide deciduous bulbs after flowering has finished and their foliage begins to wither. Divide evergreen bulbs in autumn or early spring when their growth slows, usually after blooming. Divide bearded iris from early to midsummer.
Gather a sharp, long-bladed garden knife, a shovel, a garden fork, gloves, and a tarp, then follow these easy steps:
How to Divide Colonies with Roots
Using a shovel, vertically cut the soil around the bulb colony, about 6–8 in. (15–20 cm) out from the outermost stems.
Work with the shovel, outside the first cut. Remove soil up to the first cut with an angled cut. Repeat, working around the colony, opening a trench for access to the soil under the bulb colony.
Push hard and drive the shovel underneath the colony. Pry up, freeing and breaking the colony away from the soil beneath. Carefully lift it by the soil and set it onto a tarp.
Use a garden fork and the shovel to pry the roots of the colony apart. Work from side to side across the root ball. Separate the colony into two plants, each with its own intact rootball.
When necessary, carefully use a sharp garden knife to cut the roots and soil between the colony’s plants.
Cut away, remove, and discard the oldest, central plants of the original colony. Replant each divided root set at the spacing recommended for the particular bulb species.