When shopping for new perennials, look for containers with lots of foliage, like the one above. You can plant it as one clump, or make it cover a larger area by dividing it right away. Follow along to learn how to divide a newly purchased container of foamflowers (Tiarella hybrid).
How to divide new perennials
By: Garden Gate staff
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It's all about the crowns.
This gallon-sized container could be planted as is, but it has several crowns, or small plants, that can easily be separated into clumps.
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Break away.
You can cut if you want, but it’s usually easiest to simply break the plant into sections with your hands. I was able to get three divisions from this container.
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Choose your size.
Each of these clumps has at least three crowns. You can divide down to just one crown if you need more plants, but you’ll get the quickest fill-in by leaving a few together
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Time to replant.
Space the smaller divisions 10 to 12 in. apart. The one pot I started with is now three plants and fills a larger area—more plants for the same money.
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