We have had days of 92 degrees with heat index near 100 in October .
This week a lady came to help me with the daylilys dividing them and
replanting some in different holes..

It took me about 3 days to trim leaves across , clean up debris and rake
mulch off the two flower beds and it took us 6 hours with one 5 minute break
to dig and reposition and divide them.

I got huge pieces of plastic and laid on the grass then laid each daylily clump with the marker
out on the plastic..

I think the cleanup is always so hard, to wash all the tools and return them

to the barn and clean the grass up well and then with your back breaking , try to get a shower
and just throw your clothes away.

due to the dirt on them and your garden gloves too.

I was organized and proud of that fact, but the work is just way too hard unless you are
totally healthy and about 20 years old ..LOL

Here was how we divided the daylilys in the photos attached
from the plants dug up and placed on the plastic, to the
dirty white slacks which went in the trashcan with the shoes and my gloves afterwards!

The newcomers on this site
they might get some ideas..hope so..

just look what you have to look forward to next May and June
when they begin to bloom!

Perhaps I will have forgotten all the pain that has lasted 4 days
from the digging and on my knees replanting...and cleanup!

Sheri/sheridragonfy in Alabama

Looks good, Sheri! A dirty job well done!

Sherri the only mistake you made was wearing that color pant.
Why did you feel the need to wash them when you were only dividing them. That was extra work. I only wash a plant if I am sending it to someone else or bringing it inside for the winter. I wear rubber gloves to reduce the dirt under the finger nail effect. By my trade we are known to have some terrible looking finger nails. I broke the mold on that one.

I agree with Mike about the color of your pants wear denim it doesn't show the dirt as fast. Shows you are a real gardener when you are dirty.
I always wear gloves with the palms and finger coated have a coating to give a good grip the rest of the glove lets your hand breath and keeps your nails clean. Sherri you did a great job will look good next season!

I can't work in gloves. I do hate the way my finger nails get dirty, but I just hit them with my finger nail brush. Gloves tend to get in my way.

I won't be without wearing gloves. One year I got ringworm from the soil. That settled it, its gloves from now on.

Yuck, Cindy! I agree with "gloves from now on," but I just use surgical gloves as I can't feel/grip well enough otherwise! I hope those would protect me from ringworm anyway.

The Atlas Nitrile goves give you a lot of grip. It's the only ones I will use. Most hardware stores carry them.

ediblelandscapingsc said:I can't work in gloves. I do hate the way my finger nails get dirty, but I just hit them with my finger nail brush. Gloves tend to get in my way.

Sounds like me. The fire ants are trying their best to teach me I can work in gloves, but so far the lessons haven't stuck.

yeah they got me a time or 2 this year. I also got hit by a saddleback caterpillar while moving some pots around boy does that thing hurt when it gets you.

Oh, ouch, Dan! He/She needs to go away!

Had to laugh even though it isn't funny, Shari. I select some of my older jeans for the garden, and wear them out down on my knees so
much. I'm not young either, but do this every year with about 100 clumps. I don't even care anymore, I just chop the clump with my
shovel and sock them back in a hole. My yard is nothing like yours, so when I am done I just run the mower over the mess and go on.
If you do it the easy way or the hard way, you will forget all about that part when you see them growing and blooming next year.

I just divide some and replanted, I needed to rearrange the garden. The clay soil was so wet that I quickly found big balls of mud stuck under my shoes, and I was slipping everywhere. I washed with water only the ones that I had to ship to a friend, the others went back in the ground without having their shower. I hate gloves too, so I use the yellow ones that are for dish washing. I also have the surgeouns type. I so hate worms and insects that I simply can't thing of not using gloves.

Hey All
thanks for getting some conversation going after my post
I do wear white outside..I know it is crazy to do that
My entire closet is full of white and every day clothes too LOL

I will forget the pain from it one day..it has been 6 days and still in
a flareup of pain from that work..and the heat that day..

I enjoyed all of you writing and talking about dividing and doing yours too
Sheri/sheridragonfly

Dividing daylilies can be a real chore. Unless it is a real favorite, I just push a shovel down into it. Some daylilies seem to be easy to separate out, others are so intertwined it is impossible without taking a sharp instrument to them. I don't wash them unless I am trying to save every fan, or am sending out in a trade or to a friend. Has to be a good friend too for me to wash them! When you get me near a water hose & dirt, I come away with mud from head to toe. I have had to rinse myself off with the water hose before I can come inside. But then, I can get pretty dirty just strolling through the yard

Do most people divide in the fall or in the spring?? I'm new to this, so I haven't had it come up yet!

Really enjoyed this thread. I think we all agree we're not Martha Stewart when we divide daylilies If I'm splitting them to keep or share with a friend I too just dig into the clump and replant. No washing. I have yet to sell any so it hasn't been a problem. And even doing it that way I end up hosing myself off before I come inside. Since I wear shorts most of the time outside its easier to wash me than long pants.

Barbalee, it can be done either way. I prefer to divide in fall, I seem to lose bloom when I divide in spring. They still bloom, just not as well.

alilyfan said:Barbalee, it can be done either way. I prefer to divide in fall, I seem to lose bloom when I divide in spring. They still bloom, just not as well.