Splitting Plants: An Inexpensive Way to Increase Home's Curb Appeal

Despite the importance of curb appeal, real estate agents do not recommend spending significant amounts of money on the yard as sellers usually will not get a 100 percent return on their expenditure. As such, anything sellers can do with their current plantings is a good first step, and dividing gardening plants, also known as splitting, is an inexpensive and highly effective method to double or even triple the number of plantings around a home.

A real estate agent once told me that 74 percent of buyers will drive by a house or look at its appearance on the Internet and decide if they are interested in it without stepping inside. This means that three out of four potential buyers will "judge a book by its cover," and highlights the crucial nature of curb appeal. Real estate agents define curb appeal as the first impression a house makes on a potential buyer when he or she pulls up in front of a home. This first impression generally influences how attached they initially become to the house so for sellers with limited funds to devote to their home's external appearance, splitting is a godsend.

For buyers with time and foresight, splitting a few seasons before putting the house on the market (i.e. fall before spring) can lead to a plethora of mature plants. However, buyers with short time periods can still benefit from splitting plants as they can fill out the front of the home.

Splitting Basics

Perennials that grow in groups originating from a single plant can get too large for the site at which it is planted or start producing smaller flowers, and benefit from being split. After the initial shock period, the plants will grow back healthier and in greater number than before.

The best time to split plants is in the early spring just as the plant enters the rapid growth period or early autumn after flowers have come and gone. The summer is not the ideal time for splitting perennials because of the combination of heat, dry soil, and the fact that plant is in its flowering stage. Unless in a moderate climate, winter is also not a good time for splitting as plants are dormant and the ground is solid.

Regardless of when plants are split, it is important to give them plenty of water for the first week or two to ensure they thrive in their new locations and separated root state. Also, be sure the new location's soil has enough nutrients. Following are some very basic how-to instructions for dividing plants.

Clumping Plants

To split clumping plants, dig out the entire plant with a pointed garden shovel or spade. The size of shovel needed will depend on the size of the plant. To divide the plant, separate sections of the roots with your fingers and then slice the roots apart. For large plants, you may need a large shovel and have to use your body weight by stepping on the shovel to break the roots apart. After separating the root clump, replant one section in the original planting area. The other section(s) is ready to be planted in its new location.

Hostas, peonies, and chrysanthemums are hardy perennials that take particularly well to splitting.

Dividing Bulbs

Many perennial bulbs thrive after splitting. However, bulbs must be split after the plant has flowered and the leaves turn yellow. Dig a wide area around the plant and extract the bulbs, paying attention to the approximately depth of the original bulb. Separate the bulbs by gently breaking the clump apart and if the bulb has bulblets (i.e. baby bulbs that will grow to mature plants), pull them off carefully. Alternatively, cut the bulb with a sharp knife or spade, ensuring that each section has both bulb and leaves. You can then replant the separated bulb clumps and bulblets in the soil. Be sure not to plant the bulbs too deep or they will not flower in the next season.

Iris and dandelion bulbs both take well to splitting from overcrowded gardens.

In the current tight housing market, any feature that sets a house apart from its competition in a good way is a positive feature. Splitting plants takes advantage of resources already available and the seller's sweat equity.