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Moving Perennials



I get a fair number of questions about moving perennials. Often it is because of moving properties, sometimes it is because of renovation and other times it is well… because the gardener just has itchy fingers and a rusting shovel that requires exercising.

So, the answer to your question is “Yes, moving perennials is possible at just about any time of year.”

But it takes some special care.

Spray With Anti-Desiccant


The first thing is to spray your perennial plants (leaves, top and bottom) with an anti-desiccant.

This is a wax-like substance that will prevent a perennial from losing moisture. If the leaves can’t lose moisture, the roots are under much less stress to provide adequate water. Good garden centres will have it; it is also sold as Christmas tree preservative.

Remove Flowers

Cut off the flowers if there are any on the plant. Hey, don’t get greedy here. We’re moving perennials, not saving flowers. Again, this is a plant function that demands water maintenance and we’re restricting the loss of water from the plant.

Digging Roots


Dig up as many of the roots as you can with each plant. This only makes sense. If the main mass of the roots go 18 inches wide, then dig up the 18 inches wide. The more roots you take, the happier will be your plant.

Dig as deeply as you need to in order to get all the roots that do deep. The only problem you’ll have going deeper than 12 inches is if you’re looking at a very large and established perennial or one with a massive taproot that goes halfway to the centre of the earth. In this case, take as much as you can.

The trick is to take as much soil with you as you can.

Variables in Moving Perennials


There are no effective guidelines because it depends on your plant species, its age, your garden etc.

There are too many variables in moving perennials. Just get as many of the roots as you can.

Handling those roots is fairly straightforward. Do not disturb them, do not knock the soil off the rootball.

Moving Perennials

You can either pot them up into large pots to transport them from one house to another. Or, you can put them in a semi-shaded area out of the noon sun if you are expecting to put them back into the garden in a few hours or days.

If the plant has a good enough rootball, it will survive several weeks in a shaded area. You mustkeep the roots damp though because if they dry out, your plant is not going to be happy. Covering the roots with damp burlap (and keeping it damp) is a time-honoured system of storing roots out of the ground.

Re-planting Perennials


Get them back into the ground as soon as possible. Replant with care so you don’t disturb the root balls. Soak thoroughly and keep well watered until the plants give you new growth.

And that’s the gist of moving perennials. Once they’re out of the ground, it doesn’t matter whether they go 10 feet of 10 miles. Just spray with anti-desiccant and move carefully.




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