Transplanting Potted Perennials in Autumn
by Linda
(Burlington, Ontario)
This is more of a suggestion than a question. Every autumn when I start dividing my perennials which have overtaken the area which I have designated for them, I will pot them and then bury the pots in my now empty vegetable gardens until springtime when I know whether I should replant them somewhere else in my garden or share them with friends and family. burying the pot allows for the roots to establish themselves and with the pots and roots below soil levels protects the plants from winter damage and die-off.
Just a suggestion. Linda from Burlington, Ontario
Doug says that when he's growing perennial plants in containers, he takes them out of the container and puts them in the veg garden to overwinter. I also crowd them all together because I'm going to dig them up again first thing in the spring.
You can pot up your perennials and replant (always using plastic pots as cheap clay pots will usually break or spall terribly) but it's not necessary for plant success. To me, it's just one step of work more that I can avoid - as long as I'm going to move them in the spring anyway... And having them in the ground bare-root motivates me to clean them out and get the veg in. :-)
But as with all things gardening - if this works for you - then it's a great suggestion. :-)
Transplanting Oriental Poppies
by Pat
(Richmond, Va)
I did a search but did not find the answer to my question. I planted some Oriental Poppy seeds last fall directly into the bed and was happy to see them come up this Spring. They were too crowded and by mid-summer were going dormant and I was afraid of losing them all. I transplanted to a pot in the shade where they have come back nicely, but are still too crowded. Do I transplant back to the beds this fall or wait until Spring? Zone 7 Va.
Doug says that they'll overwinter better in the ground. And while you might have a few losses in the ground, you're likely to have more losses in the pot. What happens in VA is that you get those warm spells that break plant dormancy and then the cold returns. This goes on and on all winter. :-)
So a plant in a pot is going to heat up faster, start growing and then get whacked by weather. A few of those and your plants will simply die.
In the ground, you might lose a few but more will survive.
My .02 - transplant in the fall.
Moving Perennials - Moving Houses - Winter Move
by Kathy
(Billings, MT)
I plan to move in 6 months (December in Montana, very cold, frozen ground). Have you heard of moving perrenials to plastic pots in the spring and burying in a neighbor's garden, for digging up the next year to put in your new yard? I would bury to the top of the pot, and have neighbor water, etc just like the plant was planted. I think I might try it, because I would be out the plants either way, if they didn't make it over the winter.
Doug says - I've done it that way twice. It works nicely. But I've also done it in a far easier way twice. :-) Dig a trench in the resting garden - about a foot wide and 8-inches deep. Dig your perennials in September and move them to the trench. Don't space them out, simply lay the roots along the trench (tops of plants out of ground, rest of plant in trench as you would if you were planting the perennial) Put the roots as close together as you can. Stuff them in there. And then cover over the roots, leaving them at the right depth for transplanting.
Water and soak everything to get the soil washing down between all the roots. This is important - because without doing this, without being covered with soil, some of the roots will dry out and die over the winter. So "muddify" that soil even as you're backfilling the plant roots.
You are transplanting and moving them but you're not worried about them growing next spring so you simply lay them close together and cover with soil to winter right there in the gound.
No pots, no potting, no watering and better survival rates.
In the very early spring - simply go to your friend's garden and dig 'em all up again. They'll still be well dormant and won't even know they've been moved to your new place. Plant them in the new place where you want them to be.
Oh and tag everything with a bit of string and wood tags. I'm still trying to figure out which hosta is which and the garden design gets moved a lot because I didn't know which were the blue leaved hosta and which the gold. What color were those daylilies? Etc etc. A bit of labeling would have saved me a ton of time watching them all grown again to see what I had and what had survived (almost everything survived).
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watering transplanted perennials
by Renee
(Springboro, OH)
How much do I need to water transplanted perennials, if done at the end of September?
Doug says that all transplants have to be heavily watered when transplanted - no matter what time of year. "Heavily" depends on the soil type and the individual plant but generally speaking - a daily watering is excellent in well-drained soils for the first week or two. Then back off to once every three or four days - then weekly for a week or two and then water only with rest of garden (i.e. ignore to harden off).
In clay soils or soils that hold moisture - then it becomes a "touch" kind of thing. If the ground is damp (after that initial few soakings) then you don't water as you don't want it to sit in a bathtub of water.
But the critical thing is to really soak it when transplanting the first time and then a few times right after that. If the ground holds moisture - back off - if it doesn't hold moisture, make sure it stays damp for a month.
Hope that helps a bit.
best planting time
by Alice
(central IL)
When is the best time of year to plant emerald pink phlox?
Doug says you can do it either first thing in the spring (best) or fall (second best) or any time you get a plant that's been grown in the pot (third best). The "anytime" planting simply means you really have to watch the watering and make sure the plant never suffers water stress. There's more room for error in cool spring and fall weather with watering.
when to transplant coreopsis
by sandi
(nc)
should I transplant coreopsis and rudbeckia from pots to ground in the fall or spring?
In NC you can transplant either in spring or fall and should be fine. If you have them potted up now - transplant now. They'll grow better in the ground over winter (even your mild winters) than in a container.
transplanting lilies
by Mary Davis
(Walworth WI)
My lasian lilies are beautiful but I need to transplant some of them. They have grown to bush like groups and I need to know when and how to move them.
Doug says that lilies can be either moved in the fall (usually after a frost has knocked back the leaves) or very early in the spring.
There are no special skills here - just dig up the bulbs and move them to the new place. Add a touch of compost, bury them at the same depth as they were and you're off and running.
I note there is a ton of information about bulbs (and I answer questions there about them) at flower-garden-bulbs.com