How to Separate Lilies to Bloom

Lily bulbs, which self-propagate, often separate over time, but you may help them along. Every three or four years, when your lily garden flowers a bit less than it did in previous years and the garden appears to be overcrowded, you must divide your clumps of lilies in fall after the foliage wilts. Plant the newly separated bulbs soon after division. The next year your lily garden should produce many more flowers than before.

Garden fork
Garden hose
Pruning shears or hand clippers

Instructions

- 1
  Use a garden fork to carefully dig around your lily bulbs to lift the clump of bulbs out of the soil. Lilies are planted about 2 to 6 inches deep, depending on how big the bulbs are at the time of planting. Bulbs often settle and grow deeper over the years, so they may be located a few inches lower than their original planting depth.
- 2
  Wash off the clump of bulbs with a hose or in a sink. Cut off all foliage, leaving a couple inches of stems. Use pruning shears or hand clippers for this task.
- 3
  Twist and pull the bulbs apart to separate. They should easily divide. Each new section of bulb should have healthy roots.
- 4
  Twist and pull off the stems. Now, you should have individual bulbs with roots growing from the bottom. These are ready to be planted and should bloom the next year.
- 5
  Examine the stems you pulled off. If you see tiny bulblets, pull them off. Many gardeners plant these small bulblets near the back of their garden since they won't bloom for several years.

Unusual Varieties of Gladiolus

How to Grow Orange Ornithogalum Flowers

Bulbs