oh ira .. so many words.. so little time ... i hope i answer your questions.. because by the time i got halfway thru.. i w as already composing this reply in my head ... and may have missed something.. lol.. repeat your question if i missed something .... [i think it was a coffee buzz thing.. lol] ... that picture is older than time.. there used to be a link at the library for such pix .... check the link below for dividing.. first off.. as to the diagram.. who in the heck plants their hosta with the crowns 4 inches underground.. so that you have to pull back that much soil???.. that ought to tell yo how old school this is ... second.. the number of buds a plant puts out.. is a function of its root mass ... you are NEVER going to 'trigger' more buds than the roots can grow ... so ask yourself.. what exactly would be the point of doing this??? leave your plants alone.. and when they mature.. you will have more than enough.. and you can not 'force' early maturity.. but cutting them up .. eh??? there are three parts to a hosta ... the leaves above.. the roots below.. in the middle is a potato like structure ... part of which is the basal plate .. when you cut that potato.. that plate.. you can trigger a bud on each side of the cut.. or cut twice for 4.. or 4 times for 16.. etc ... but as i note.. what about the root mass??.. and why leave it in the ground.. just do it like at the link ... [you will end up with 16 MICRO plants!!! .. because of the lack of root mass]] this is so old school.. only zumbar perfected it.. GRHS .... if you want more.. dig your hosta up.. do surgery.. and go for it ..... like at the link ... i too.. long ago.. thought this was some magical potion for cutting the maturity curve.. it isnt.. grow the roots .... and the plant will follow.. field of dreams and all that.. all that said .. if you are the experimenter type.. well.. go for it.. dont let me stop you .... ken Here is a link that might be useful: link

I was told years ago it takes about six weeks for a plant to settle in before frost...so I believe six weeks out from our first frost date is the optimum time. Hosta's will survive about anytime you divide them. I am not one who worries about what they look like "the rest of the season". If I have the time and the weather is great I do it. Next year they will look fine. I have people gushing all the time over the fullness of my gardens. When I offer to pass a few along and they hem and haw about "the rest of the season" I figure they don't want them bad enough and find someone who does.

Sometimes we just have to imagine how good it will look in the end. It is daunting but now that you have dug out so much the ground will be easier to work. I would go through the soil meticulously searching out all pieces of the LOV, including under the patio stones. Some here will say spray it with round up when they have emerged. How you do it is up to you. I am a digger. I like to know that I got as much out as humanly possible. When a missed piece shows up I get it out immediately. I would suggest that you swish the Hostas in a pail of water (or wheel barrow etc.) to make sure there are no LOV roots mixed with them. Here is the area I did. It was completely full of LOV all 35x12 feet of it. The LOV was growing into the Hostas at the far right. This was in 2014. I planted later in the same year.This pic was taken in 2015 of the same bed standing by the Hostas at the far right in the first pic. It was a tough job but very satisfying. Can't wait to see it this year!

Call or send an e-mail to Jeff Miller, owner of Land of the Giants hosta farm. He doesn't have them in his online catalog, but he may have a few available, nonetheless. I spoke with him about Continental Divide last year. Unfortunately, coming out of tissue culture production, many have been poor growers.