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Post by willowgirl on Apr 29, 2015 2:22:12 GMT
I have some plants that really need to be moved. Last year I waited until after they bloomed ... in fact, I waited all summer, fall and winter. Oops!
Do you think it will kill them to go ahead and move them now before they bloom? I realize I'll probably be sacrificing this year's flowers, but that's OK, as long as it won't permanently damage the plants. (The irises desperately need thinning, and they're in too much shade, so they wouldn't have bloomed much anyway.)
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Post by paquebot on Apr 29, 2015 3:32:25 GMT
You already answered your problem with the irises. Too crowded and shaded to bloom so there is nothing to lose. In fact,they may be close to dying anyway. I don't know what the professionals may say but I have seen old colonies which die in the middle and are just a ring of living plants. Rather than killing them by thinning and transplanting, you may be saving them. Go for it while there is all summer for them to recover.
Had to uproot a 40-year-old peony one time just about this time as they were emerging. The ball was so huge that it had to be rolled instead of carried. Hole was about 6" deeper than the root ball and compost added under and around it. Bloomed as if nothing happened. Split some roots off for HT members and those probably still growing as far as I know. I originally got them in early fall which is what the experts advise but no reason why a large established plant can't be moved now. Just don't bare-root them.
Martin
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Post by Deleted on Apr 29, 2015 3:58:40 GMT
A few years ago a friend's parents had just sold their house and were moving and offered me some of the Irises, Peonies, Hostas and Lilacs. Anyway, it was late May/early June in NE Pa. and I just started digging.
IIRC I just dug up the bearded Irises and then shook off the dirt. When I got them home I put them in a large tub and threw a little dirt on them. That is where they stayed for about two months until I found the time to plant them. There were about 200 to 300 and I lost very few if any.
With the Siberian Irises I dug up as much of a root ball as I could and planted them as soon as I could. They did really well afterwards.
The Peonies were already blooming and I dug up as much as I could around them. Some of the root balls were huge and difficult to carry with two people. I planted those immediately and they never skipped a beat.
The Hostas I treated like red-headed step-children. I left most in several large tubs covered with a little dirt for almost 6 months. It seems that as long as the roots do not dry out they will be fine. I gave some to another buddy and he put his in a trash can with no dirt and left them there for a year. He finally planted them and they did fine.
The Lilacs, I dug up as much as I could around the suckers and put those in the ground immediately. I lost a few, but not too many. I even brought a few down here to NC when I moved one May and they are doing well after having gone through the same process again.
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Post by willowgirl on Apr 29, 2015 11:32:48 GMT
OK, that is encouraging! I think I'll go for it. lol
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Post by here to stay on Apr 29, 2015 13:54:42 GMT
My experience with fibrous rooted iris is that they subdivide and move easily. My luck with bearded iris has not been as good. Sometimes the rizomes have not rerooted well and took a couple of years to recover. No all but some. I lost all my miniature bearded iris with an unsuccessfull attempt to move them. I must be missing something with them. I do try to place them near the surface like they were before I moved them.
Bulb iris I wait til fall.
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Post by Wendy on Apr 30, 2015 3:53:58 GMT
I swear I can't kill an iris. Just toss them somewhere & they grow.  I just planted some bearded iris a few weeks ago. They are starting to get green on them. I have a bunch of dwarf bearded iris that need thinned out. I'll probably do it this fall. They should be fine if you move them. Yes, you will lose this year's flowers, but it shouldn't hurt the plants. |
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Post by paquebot on Apr 30, 2015 13:01:21 GMT
Twice I have received iris rhizomes in return for my annual seed offer. Both times were about now when I'm busy with everything else rather than establishing a proper place for them. Found an open spot and just laid them on the untilled ground and partially covered them with a handful of compost. They were on their own after that. Still alive and multiplying. As Wendy said, you can't kill them. Years ago, garden clubs used to establish iris and lily beds along roads by just tossing them out the windows.
Martin
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Post by willowgirl on May 1, 2015 2:49:41 GMT
Numb said he found the original start to all the irises here growing wild (or feral at least) atop a coal tip behind the cemetery!
There is a massive old peony bush growing in the woods out at the farm. It must have been planted 20 or more years ago (probably more) by the original owner. There are also mature lilac and hydrangea bushes in that area; it must have been a garden at some point. I stumbled across the peony while poking around in the woods one day. Think I'll go back and try to find it, and excavate it if I can get a wheelbarrow back there to drag it out. (Did I mention it's huge?) I don't even know what color it is!
The other peonies I have here are 'Bowl of Beauty' (or similar) that I got from a client awhile back who wanted hers dug up and divided. She paid me plus gave me the leftover divisions! I love my job. lol
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Post by paquebot on May 1, 2015 3:02:17 GMT
Your peony may appear to be a giant plant but it is not. Instead, it is a colony. Yes, you can excavate the whole like I had to do for the city sidewalk project. Then bigger hole dug in back lawn for it. As it was rolled, some of the colony broke off. I didn't need any more and a couple of HT members just happened to want some. I know that if I were able to pick up that huge ball and drop it, it would have shattered into dozens of individual plants. With that in mind, and the possibility of the colony being too big to move in one piece, dig around it to establish the size and then use a flat spade to divide it down the middle. Don't worry about anything that might be sliced in half as there will be more than enough to compensate for that little damage. Then you'll have two plants instead of one. Divide those two and you'll have four.
Martin
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Post by willowgirl on May 1, 2015 12:12:04 GMT
Yes, I will definitely divide it if I can even manage to excavate the danged thing!
The thought crossed my mind that maybe I should take a division to the lady across the road. The property originally belonged to her parents; she grew up there; so likely her mom (or dad) planted that peony originally. So maybe she'd like a piece of it for her garden.
Now, she and her husband are the neighbors who hate my cows, and have been making trouble for me here for the better part of 8 years, so doing something nice for them would probably drive them out of their minds. LOL!
Maybe I'll pot up a clump and leave it beside their mailbox with a note. Never hurts to be neighborly!
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Post by farmchix on May 2, 2015 10:00:21 GMT
I wait until both are done blooming.
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Post by willowgirl on May 2, 2015 13:37:08 GMT
That was my intention last year, but I never got around to it. Once the weather turns really hot, my enthusiasm for playing in the dirt tends to fade!
So I figured it might be better to just get 'er done, rather than waiting for the right time, providing it wouldn't outright kill the plants.
I have a new bed prepared, and will be doing the transplanting tomorrow, if all goes as planned!
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Post by Melissa on May 2, 2015 13:52:48 GMT
I find that just about anything I divide and move in the springtime does well. We generally have decent rainfall and that helps a lot. I am going to move some iris later myself. I have some that sprung up about six inches off the road and I am sure when they grade they will uproot them, so I am moving them into the main flower bed. I also have some hostas to move and some periwinkle.
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Post by willowgirl on May 4, 2015 2:39:47 GMT
Oh dear. I filled the new bed but barely made a dent in the old one by the time I was done dividing! Guess I'll have to find a different/better place to put them. The trees have grown up around their current location and it's really too shady there for them now. But that's OK -- I have some hostas to take their place! They also need to be dug up and divided. (Whew.)
Oh, funny -- while I was planting the divisions, my little cat Juliet was keeping me company, wandering among the irises and ramming them with her head, which, of course, tipped them over! I didn't want to bury them too deeply, so I can only hope they'll take root before our outside cats mess them up. lol
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Post by paquebot on May 4, 2015 14:11:52 GMT
If you just barely cover the iris rhizomes with loose soil, it will anchor them temporarily until they can establish roots. Rains will compact the soil around them and leave them partly exposed as normal.
Martin
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Post by Deleted on May 11, 2015 3:33:23 GMT
I divided my Iris 2 years ago and they badly need it again. Will do this fall. I placed them half above the soil. They have since taken full cover. I planted 35 several years ago and divided them to 150. Gave away many. I'll have loads this fall. My prettiest is a blue with a white center. I'm going to add some all white ones this fall. I also have yellow, blue, blue with violet centers and violet blooms. I had as many as 5 blooms per stock up to 3 and a half feet high. If they get that high next year I might stake them. Oklahoma wind isn't nice to them. But we've had lots of rain this year too.
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I just planted some bearded iris a few weeks ago. They are starting to get green on them. I have a bunch of dwarf bearded iris that need thinned out. I'll probably do it this fall. They should be fine if you move them. Yes, you will lose this year's flowers, but it shouldn't hurt the plants.
