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Shropshire, United Kingdom

Morning. Moving plants. I will have to dig up a dozen or so bulbs, shrubs, perennials and either put them in temporary gaps in my borders or in pots. The reason for this is that I am planning at the end of May to have a summerhouse put in with a path from the back of my house and an outside seating area. What is the rule in moving plants with regards to the ground temperature? Is it a no no when the ground is cold/frozen and so wait till the ground has warmed up and the plants have woken up?
Types of plants to be moved are: wood enemone bulbs, miniature roses, fushia, bronze fennel, deutzia, tellima, hellabores, acquilegia etc.. Any advice would be appreciated. Enjoy your Sunday. :)




Answers

 

Primarily you need to wait for the soil to be a bit warmer, mostly from a replanting point of view. Best if the soil is not frozen, even if you're transferring to pots, nor waterlogged. March would be the optimum time, so long as its not unusually cold, in which case, April. That said, I have stripped out an entire bed of permanent planting and transported the contents elsewhere and replanted in mid February - but I'm in London, and it was an unusually mild February. If you can see weed germination, or seedlings, popping up in your borders, that means the soil is starting to warm, and it can be done then.

With regard to the bronze fennel, if you can get that out intact, you're a better man than me gunga din - after attempting it years ago, I discovered the tap root goes down an awfully long way, and I've never managed to move one that's been in situ for longer than a couple of years successfully, but they're not expensive to replace anyway.

29 Jan, 2017

 

I agree with bamboo. having said that I am removing couch grass from a border [when the sil isn't frozen] and the plants get lifted, checked for couch grass, re-potted and put in the greenhouse. they will go back in the border when it is all dug out and settled in the spring.
obviously in pots keep and eye on the watering.

29 Jan, 2017

 

Thank you Bamboo and Seaburngirl. I will wait untill March/April depending on the weather.

29 Jan, 2017

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