Separating mondo grass

Hello! I just bought 6 pots of mondo grass yesterday and everywhere I read says to separate the grass and plant sprigs of 6-11 leaves about an inch apart where you want it. I want to plant it inside my garden along the sidewalk as a border. I took it out of the pot but it did not want to separate very easily. The roots are very tangled and it did not want to come apart. I was afraid of damaging the roots and the plant so I stopped. What is the most effective way of pulling this plant apart?

Bummer that you had to spend money on mondo (ophiopogon). May I suggest you look on http://www.craigslist.org for postings about people giving theirs away. That is what I do with my excess and they always get picked up right away. You can do a search for plants and see who's offering what in your area.

As for dividing, you don't say what size pots you bought. If 4", I would recomend not dividing and planting about 6-12" apart and let them fill in. (I know, I know, you want a nice, filled sidewalk edge, lol). Just keep an eye on Craigslist for people giving it away or selling for next to nothing. But don't buy, sooner than you realize you will be dividing your own.

If pots are gallon sized, then you can divide in 2 or maybe even 3 clumps. Mondo is extremely tough, so separate the plant like you're in a bad mood. If won't damage it, but again, this is assuming you have gallon size plants. I've found that clumps shouldn't be smaller than what you can hold in the palm of your hand.

This information also applies to Liriope, which is also called mondo. Many people confuse these two plants but they are not the same. However, they look very similar and serve the same purpose (border). I'm just adding this info FYI.

Wow thank you for the fast response! My pots I bought them in are small, probably 4-6" across? I do have three pots planted already maybe 4-6" apart. I was trying to make the edges of each plant touch, as to get that "continuous" look right away. Is that bad for the plant and will I be sorry I did that later on as they begin to grow? Also, I planted them about 1-2" from the sidewalk, is that too close?

This message was edited Sep 8, 2008 8:24 AM

Understand about the continuous look, that is so attractive and I have the same thing, but around trees, a continuous ring. . I think you did the right thing in planting the way you did. I would say mondo is fast growing, especially if you water often. I would guess that the way you have planted, you should have a continuous look by this time next year.

2" from sidewalk seems ok, if not, no biggie, just trim back w/ scisssors or the edger.

If you are impatient like me, then keep an eye on craigslist for people wanting to thin out their mondo then you can get some more for free or very cheaply and fill in the gaps. save your money for the plants you will soon be addicted to, if you continue to hang around this website, lol.

Yes I do like this website very much. It has a lot of information that is very useful for a beginner like me. Thank you very much for all your input. I never realized there could be so many ways to plant mondo grass!