moving perennials

Can anyone tell me if now is a good time to move perennials which were planted last winter and have already outgrown their position? If I wait until winter they will die back and I won't know where and what they are!

 

I'm no expert but I've moved pretty much everything at any time and seemed to get away with it!! I always make sure I water them well an hour or two before hand, though. I also lift plenty of earth with them to disturb the rootball as little as possible. And I water and enrich the hole they're going into. Then I water them in as well!!! Generally they seem to cope.

Know what you mean about losing them, though - I've a not inconsiderable quantity of snowdrops scattered around which I have wanted to move these past 3-4 years. But the weather's never conducive when they're in the green and by the time I feel like venturing forth - they're all gone!!

 

Thanks M, I will have a go at moving a few things this weekend ready for a glorious show next spring! Last year I split and moved several clumps of snowdrops (in the green) and they have been highly successful. Only trouble is I keep forgetting where they are and inadvertantly dig up the little bulbs when planting something new. I usually just stuff them back in and hope for the best! This year I have been very organised and pushed in little white plant markers to remind where they are.

 

I think that now is a good time to move and split most perennials. I understand that when you move things you damage some roots and shoots and this can allow diseases to get in. Because the plants are still growing they can repair this damage fairly quickly. In mid winter they are not growing and do not repair. And although it is traditional to move things in winter my book on propagation (Peter Thompson - Creative Propagation) says that the toughest plants survive this inspite of the time chosen rather than because it.

You must cut back some of the foliage to reduce water loss (as you will have lost part of the root system). However according to Christopher Lloyd (Great Dixter) many of the composite family (ie Daisy) such as Asters can be moved when they are in full flower with no harm and presumably without cutting back as long as they are watered well the night before and afterwards. He even recommends growing them in a secluded part of the garden and transplanting at flowering time. You can do this with Lobelia as well.

 

Thanks for the helpful reply Peter. I completely replanted my garden 2 years ago and didn't really plan, hence some plants are dwarfing others or are too tall under a tree etc. However on the whole I am really pleased with my efforts and have now got the 'gardening bug'! I have only just found this site and I am really pleased to find it so interesting and helpful (I find gardening books a little boring!)

 

Hi JillD

I think it is well worth digging things up and replanting. This is now my third year of gardening and I have replanted almost the entire garden - mostly perennials - every year. As you learn more you can think of better plants, better locations and better combinations. My garden is hopfully improving each year - but there is a long way to go, as the more you learn the more you realise how little you know.

If you have a digital camera you might find it worth taking a some reference pictures - not really to show anyone but to keep on your computer and remind you of how the garden looked at a particular time, what combinations were good and what was not. I have also found it useful to identify plants when I dig them up in early spring. I can't bear to move things now because everything is in flower.

I have lost a small number of plants by digging them up. Not many. But on balance I have gained far more, because most things I dig up I split into 2 or more.

Peter

 

Hi Peter, I do have a digital camera and have been recording the different stages of my garden. It gives me great pleasure to look back on how things were in early spring compared to how they are now. I am currently trying to learn how to load a picture on to this site of a very special fuschia which I would like someone to identify, watch this space......! Might have to get hubby to help!!