Moving a peony

I am thinking about moving my peony. At the moment its up a corner where it can only be seen when the cars are away. I was think of cutting the peony in half and planting the pieces in front of my Rose's. Here they will be seen properly. I thought about replanting the old spot with cytisus. It would fill the gap nicely and add some colour to that corner.


The peony is in the corner by the drain cover. I am thinking about putting a cytisus or two around d here.


This is where I would put the peony.

Any thoughts and advice would be appreciated .

G.

 

The books will say do not move peonies. However, you can. I do. A lot of folk on the forum have done successfully
The points to remember are to plant in full sun, to plant so that the rhizomes can be baked by the sun (viz. not to plant too deeply), that neighbouring plants do not shade the rhizomes, that soil drains well and that the soil is reasonably rich by adding compost etc. They will not thrive in depleted poor soil, in my experience
Remember, peonies flower for a very short time; mostly they then provide very little to see so siting them with this in mind is advisable.

 

Verdun is spot on here ; I've successfully moved peonies numerous times .
Sometimes the short flowering period is compensated for by attractive reddish colouration of the foliage in late Summer/early Autumn .
The flowers on my three plants normally get blasted to pieces by the wind anyway .

 

Strangely it is cold that they need to initiate flowering which is why the top of the plant should be no more than an inch below soil level.

 

That spot is definitely sunny. It does well enough in the soil it's in now so hopefully moving it sideways a few feet shouldn't upset it too much. Can I cut it in half? I have read several articles that say I can? If so, when would be the best time to do it?

G.

 

Autumn really but now is good . Its when I would do it anyway.
Funny when I look back....my old mum made me realise peonies can be moved as she did it so often, giving away pieces to her friends etc. Pretty sure she didnt know the "expert" way to do it; just knew it would work
You need to dig up clump and separate roots. You need a growing point with each separate root..... much as dahlia tubers and intact stems/grow points. Perhaps washing the clump will help you see more clearly
I would divide into 2,
Ah! Sounds good spot then Gary so yes it should continue to flower. Try to make incorporate some dried manure, compost in the planting mix. However, peonies are not to be mulched, in my experience, so as not to cover the rhizomes too much.
My own peonies, just a couple, are planted in reasonable shelter and look good albeit for a couple of weeks. Agree with PaulB3, mine also produce attractive reddish leaf colour before the foliage dies down.
Interesting info Palustris about the initial cold period....always learning something.

 

Moving and Dividing Peonies | Claire Austin

This is the article I read.

G.

 

Much as I said Gary.
Pretty much verbatim???

 

Job done. The root system was a lot a bigger than I was expecting. It cut in half easily enough. I haven't bothered taking a photo as there is nothing to see. I will wait and see what happens. All the daffodil and allium bulbs are starting to shoot so hopefully come spring that part of the garden will be full of colour.



G.

 

@Jack Sparrow, I was wondering how your Peony is doing as I am hoping to move one.?
@Verdon it is strange that we are told that Peonies like a full sunny aspect yet mine is in shade most of the day but is beautiful? It is also somewhere where it can not be seen so I would like to move it later on.

 

It is doing really well. I don't have a photo at the moment but I will see if I can one at some point. It's going over now so the flowers are dying off.

 

I dig up and split peonies regularly as sell loads at my charity plant sale. The best time to move them is when the top growth has died down around September/ October time. My splits get potted up and left in an unheated greenhouse, they might not fare too well if immediately replanted in quite cold/ wet ground but you might get away with it in Surrey as opposed to up here in Scotland. Never had a failure so not convinced about Peonies being difficult to move. The only thing you should be aware of is they are not keen on being split into really small portions. I try and split them so they have at least 3 growing points and don’t replant deep as that affects their flowering. Apart from that they move no bother.

 

I've moved peonies many times too @hailbopp . It's a myth about them not liking it.
It comes down [as is often the case] to being done correctly -ie correct level etc, and at an appropriate time for your location and conditions. Some are also easier than others - again, like many types of plant. The bog standard dark red one grows anywhere @Meomye. I often see it at the foot of trees, and in quite a lot of shade. Verdun often disagreed with me on G'sWorld forum about certain things, because he could never understand the differences between living up here and living in the south.

Yours is looking pretty happy @Jack Sparrow ! It clearly enjoys it's new position.

 

Thank you @Jack Sparrow, @hailbopp and @fairygirl. I will have a go later in the season. May I ask how you divide? do you cut it with a knife?