A Gardeners Forum Forums General Discussion The Plants and Flowers Forum Dividing coneflowers

I have a coneflower that's been around some quite a few years now, I think it needs to be divided - how and when can I do this? THis is a picture taken today - after the hail storm (see gardeners chat), so - usually it doesn't look like this, but you can kinda tell, it's pretty big - at the bottom.

I tend to wait until spring, I'm a hack and just use a trowel to split the plant in two. I have more energy to do these kind of things in the spring than I would in the fall. It's just me.

Found this on line though,

Every four or five years your echinacea plant will probably have to be divided. The best time to split a large plant into two is after it has flowered. You can dig up the whole plant, cut the root ball in half, add new soil to the hole and replant half and relocate the other. Leave enough time at the end of the season for the plant to reestablish itself before winter.