Splitting Pond Lilies?

This video demonstrates the process of dividing and repotting waterlilies in spring. Healthy water lilies can grow rapidly, with the potential to produce up to 25 new plants from one large rootball. The best time to do this is in spring when the leaves haven’t fully developed, but there should be enough emerging green shoots. Water lilies can be expensive, but by dividing them up and planting them out, you can build up your stock quickly and easily.

In this pond plant video series, we will show you how to prepare your pond lilies for spring, including choosing the right size containers, soil type, fertilizer tablets, and the five parts of a water lily. When your waterlilies have outgrown the basket and used up all the nutrients in the soil, early spring is an excellent time to divide them.

Hardy water lilies grow quickly and spread in abundance, so it’s essential to divide and transplant them every 2 to 3 years. Watch for roots swarming and use tools like hatchets and root cutters to properly divide and repot aquatic plants.

To properly divide and repot your lily, lift the pot or container out of the pond, locate the tuber, and gently remove it. Rinse off the soil and trim away root mass.

When dividing a miniature water lily, lift the basket out of the pond when growth begins in spring. Use hard rhizome only and divide water lilies every few years to keep them healthy and prevent overcrowding. Remove the waterlilies from the container, rinse off all soil, and cut off or break off old rootstock end, leaving 4-6″ of healthy rootstock.