Hi
Not a palm of course but a sedge,probably water plants?? lol Anyway I grow both the gigantic and the dwarf types but both have similar culture .Are you growing potted in standing water?? This is the best method IMO.
About every 3 years they need to completely ripped apart.
A pot keeps it from spreading too far. You'll probably need to dig up the entire clump and separate . You'll have to do this repeatedly over time and a pot makes it a LOT easier. Have you ever tried to make "paper" from it?? Know how this is done ?? gary

Hi, Gary! Well, first of all, the papyrus is NOT planted in water, but in an elevated flower bed. It was just planted last spring, but literally exploded with growth over the course of the next 8 - 10 months. Now, however, it's gotten quite scraggly, and the new shoots die before ever fully opening. The bottom clump of old and new shoots is HUGE and I realize now that I should probably have thinned it ages ago. Doesn't help me now, though. And you're right, of course...now it is a major, major undertaking. How the heck do I dig it up and separate? Won't that kill it? How deep will the roots have gotten (so, how deep do I have to dig to avoid them?)...and what's the best garden tool to do the job? A shovel? Do I clip all the stalks close to the ground, then haggle with it? I sorely want my beautiful plant from last summer back...not this half-dead, straw-like imitator! And no, I have no clue how to make paper from it, but have played with a trimmed stalk to try and figure it out. Do tell!

hi
Had no idea it would grow without a constant source of moisture. I grow them in a pond and a bog garden in sunken pots. Not sure if it would be different but if you dig it up it separates into sections incredibly easy to start new ones. I don't spend a lot of time trying to start new ones ,mostly reducing the size of the clumps lol Have no idea how deep since I've always grown them in pots.Since you have no trouble growing them without water obviously any type of moisture retentive soil should work.?? Do put hem in a short ,wide pot and bury it to make it more wind resistant. I've never had them grow outside of the water gardns but I do get seeds that germinate in the bog garden lol They are pulled right away lol
Not sure where you live how cold hardy are they??
gary

There are quite cold hardy, mine has resisted a couple of frosts with no important damage.
I grow mine on a pot, thanks for the advice, I didn´t know you could fix the living dead.
What I understand about paper making is that Egyptians peeled the skin, and sliced the white stuff. Then they put that in water for about , well, I don´t remember, in order to soften it. Then , I think they put them in an alternating one vertical one horizontal pattern. I don´t remember whether they put some kind of glue. Then they put a lot of pressure on it between two wooden planks.
Hope to be useful.

I know squat about papyrus, but, fell in love with a giant potted one at a nursery. They sold them at about the size of a mini. I killed my first one before it grew at all, my second potted (indoor)one is getting bigger, but the stems keep kinking instead of supporting the puffy tops which are growing stems with smaller puffs on them. I've cut some of the kinked stems off and it is now about 32" tall. HELP!

Our papyrus resides in a pot in our pond and it is healthy, but as Cindy experienced, the base in the pot is THICK with stalks and little filament type of roots. Gary, thanks for your answer, I will attempt to clear it out.

hi
Visit the ponds and aquatic plants forum. there are some aquatic palms but I have no room for them. darnit!!! gary