I divide daylilies as this video shows and as Juli added with a few minor differences. I use a garden fork with prongs (I call it a prize fork) instead of a shovel. There is less damage to the roots when using a garden fork. I also use a screw driver instead of a knife to avoid more damage to the crown. If you will use the strongest jet of water from a water nozzle, it will remove not only the soil on the roots but force the roots and fans apart. Turn the clump upside down, on its side, and right side up as you hose it off with the nozzle. With some wiggling and twisting of fans, the fans will come apart in your hands. For those tougher clumps, I use the screw driver. I force the screw driver into the clump and wiggle it. Then I use my hands to do more twisting. Sometimes I reapply the stong jet of water into the areas where I have used the screwdriver. The clump will come apart in small clumps which can then be further divided with my hands. I have not lost fans and roots that are lost using other methods. I have air dried any part of the crown or roots that may have been opened, so as to allow these areas to harden over before replanting or shipping. I will now keep a can of Comet cleanser handy to speed up this process. Juli, I have an old picnic table and large plastic wheelbarrow that I use for potting. I can also use this table for washing and dividing to save my back. This is in a shady area at our storage building. The faucet is next to the storage building. Previously, I sat on the steps of the storage building, hosed off the clumps, and worked the fans apart. It is convenient and comfortable for the old body, too.
This may sound like it takes a lot time, but it does not. For those that drive a shovel into the clump to divide, you are cutting into the crown or cutting into fans and roots. You are wounding the clump and inviting rot or decay into the clump. You will lose more fans doing dividing that way. As Juli said, try the method she has provided for us.
Doris
