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Agapanthus - dividing

GrajeanGrajean Posts: 447
in Plants
My tender Agapanthus needs dividing so I have watched someone on Utube. It was brutal! The lady divided the plant then with a tomahawk chopped the root system by half! Is this a good method or am I being too caring? 
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  • bédébédé Posts: 3,095
    edited February 2023
    I use a spade, and have to jump on it.  An axe at the ready.  You have to be brutal.  No sulphur, no rot, they just kept on growing.
     location: Surrey Hills, England, ex-woodland acidic sand.
    "Have nothing in your garden that you don't know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful."
  • UffUff Posts: 3,199
    I agree with @bede, that's about the size of it. I've only done it once and I ended up getting a saw to it when I'd got it out of the pot. Never dug any out of the ground though. 
    SW SCOTLAND but born in Derbyshire
  • GardenerSuzeGardenerSuze Posts: 5,692
    They are hard work to say the least. When you have got them out of the ground you leave them for a day to dry so that they don't rot off when replanted.
    I have worked as a Gardener for 24 years. My latest garden is a new build garden on heavy clay.
  • rowlandscastle444rowlandscastle444 Posts: 2,612
    I dug one of mine up last autumn, and used a large (9 inch) serrated garden knife to divide it. Yes, it's brutal, but most of the time it works.
    I now have nine new plants. I could have had more, but ended up ditching about one third of the original. 
  • GrajeanGrajean Posts: 447
    Thank you everyone. Brutal it is then
  • GardenerSuzeGardenerSuze Posts: 5,692
    @Grajean You may need some extra help as I found. I'm not so strong now. The only plant I can think of that is more difficult to split is Miscanthus.
    Late March/ April is the best time of year so plenty of time to eat lots of spinach to make you strong.
    I have worked as a Gardener for 24 years. My latest garden is a new build garden on heavy clay.
  • Hostafan1Hostafan1 Posts: 34,889
    I use an old bow saw blade which I keep for just that purpose.
    Devon.
  • Slow-wormSlow-worm Posts: 1,630
    Yes I had to saw through Fargesia roots once with a wood saw, took me a good 5-10 minutes! I've still got all the plants 14 years on. 
  • didywdidyw Posts: 3,573
    It is exhausting getting them out of the pot!  I have an old bread knife I use for sawing through roots.  I divided mine (not tender) and planted half in the garden, repotted the other half.  It took a couple of years for the half in the garden to flower again.
    Gardening in East Suffolk on dry sandy soil.
  • bédébédé Posts: 3,095
    edited February 2023
    I have a large pallet knife, not for dividing the roots, but to go round the inside edge of the pot to loosen the rotos in order to make it more  easily come out of the pot.  I then bounce the pot on the lawn, gently but firmly.  If it still doesn't come out, I push through the drainage hole with a broom handle; strong drainage broken pot needded.
     location: Surrey Hills, England, ex-woodland acidic sand.
    "Have nothing in your garden that you don't know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful."
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