Moving Plants...

[Sinchets]

Nothing personal just something we had both been wanting to do for some time- to have the space to grow and sell the plants we love. It was also a good chance to get away from the rat-race 

[Lesley Cox]

Kristl, I don't think the Glaucidium is tap-rooted, or at least, I certainly didn't see anything that looked like a tap root either broken or whole, when I lifted my bigger ones, just a great mass of roots and soil, If you are hoping to move the wonderful plant in your picture above, I still think the advice to spade down round it now, is the right way to go. You'll need to go quite deep and I'd say you'll need a couple of strong men to lift it, when the time comes, maybe moving it to new place in its own wheelbarrow or similar.

Simon, Trilliums, Disporum, Polygonatum, even Paeonia, are all quite happy to be bare-rooted and I doubt if they would have suffered much at all, so long as you could have got them heeled into the ground in Bulgaria quite quickly. Any plants with those thick, rather elastic roots will take a tremendous amount of abuse if the need arises. It's the very fine rooted plants like Rhododendron, Saxifraga, Campanula that really suffer - or die. And believe me, I know about bare rooting, having imported plants to New Zealand from the UK a number of times. Not the slightest vestige of organic matter may be left among the roots so imagine teasing out every tiny spot of peat from a small Rhodo species. A heart-breaking task as the roots come away with the peat.

[Kristl Walek]

Kristl, I don't think the Glaucidium is tap-rooted, or at least, I certainly didn't see anything that looked like a tap root either broken or whole, when I lifted my bigger ones, just a great mass of roots and soil, If you are hoping to move the wonderful plant in your picture above, I still think the advice to spade down round it now, is the right way to go. You'll need to go quite deep and I'd say you'll need a couple of strong men to lift it, when the time comes, maybe moving it to new place in its own wheelbarrow or similar.

Leslie, or anyone....just so I have this clear. I do my half-dig when?
Early in the spring before they flower?

I suppose all around the entire colony....and then do my final dig after flowering?....which would be June, probably.

Then I will have to find something big enough to contain the clump (and I don't move until the end of July). Ouch.

(Leslie we are still in hard winter here right now- 3 more months before the Glaucidiums appear).

[cohan]

Nothing personal just something we had both been wanting to do for some time- to have the space to grow and sell the plants we love. It was also a good chance to get away from the rat-race 

thats great any family there?
some of my reasons were similar, plus coming to help out my mom;
--i really miss some city things, especially not having to drive--here, you cant go anywhere at all without driving-nearest service station(gas and emergency groceries/junk food) is something around 6-7miles, the town where i work is 20miles(32km)etc etc..
but the space is great, and i CAN just walk out into fairly natural habitat....

[Lesley Cox]

I probably would have done the wrench in autumn but early spring as soon as the ground thaws should be OK then the final dig just before you move. Give it a darn good deep water first if the weather is hot or dry. Or you could do the final dig as the flowers finish but leave it sitting there until moving time.

[Sinchets]

Hello Lesley- yes the Polygonatums, Peonies etc. all did cope with the move. We had other plants which I am sure some were very happy about it- the bearded irises were stunning the next year - even though we thought they might sulk for a year. We had other surprises too- we really weren't expecting plants such as Jeffersonia or Ypsilandra to be very happy with being bare-rooted, but they recovered well. As you say though it was mainly the alpines that were left behind- though i had collected seed of about 90% of them.
Hi Cohan- I think I have reached that age where cities have their uses, but i wouldn't want to be too near one. We are 16km from a small town with good shops and 60km from the nearest city- up in the mountains where our street lights turn off at 10pm and all you can see is the stars. Neither of us have family here, but i know mine stopped thinking I was crazy when they came out and saw how amazing it is

[cohan]

on the topic of pre-digging--
would this also be useful for shrubs, saplings etc?
i have a lot of self sown native trees and shrubs, and might like to move some around--specifically spruce, red osier dogwoods..
possibly birch and honeysuckles, amelanchier etc though i'm thinking maybe cuttings are the way to go on those?

-simon--glad you are so happy with your new home sometimes i'd like to be in the mountains, though here, that means like zone 1....lol
here, there are no street lights at all.. although the one neighbour close enough to see-- a couple hundred metres away, with a line of trees between (other directions its a half mile or more)--does have an outdoor light as many farms do...
sometimes, if  i am quiet, outdoors, there are no human sounds at all, though often there is some motorised sound a mile or two away, and vehicles pass occasionally...

[Maggi Young]

on the topic of pre-digging--
would this also be useful for shrubs, saplings etc?
i have a lot of self sown native trees and shrubs, and might like to move some around--specifically spruce, red osier dogwoods..
possibly birch and honeysuckles, amelanchier etc though i'm thinking maybe cuttings are the way to go on those?

Yes Cohan, we always do a pre-dig to a good depth around subjects like those before moving .....good success rates too.... and not just because the back strain is lessened by spreading the effort!!

[cohan]

on the topic of pre-digging--
would this also be useful for shrubs, saplings etc?
i have a lot of self sown native trees and shrubs, and might like to move some around--specifically spruce, red osier dogwoods..
possibly birch and honeysuckles, amelanchier etc though i'm thinking maybe cuttings are the way to go on those?

Yes Cohan, we always do a pre-dig to a good depth around subjects like those before moving .....good success rates too.... and not just because the back strain is lessened by spreading the effort!!

thanks, maggi--so for plants like this, where flowering season isnt an issue, how long would you leave them after the pre-dig? if i do it in early spring (which isnt that early here..i doubt i'd be able to dig anything til probably well into april) when would i move them? mid summer heat isnt an issue here, it can be hot (30Cplus) but doesnt usually stay that way long enough to stress plants

[Maggi Young]

The idea of pre-digging is to encourage the plants to form new fibrous roots around the cut edges so that they will get a fast start into establishing in their new home. I would think a few weeks, say a couple of months is enough after  digging for that, though it could be longer. Extra water during this period is as important as after replanting. Then you can pretty much move and  replant at will.... always supposing the weather conditions are not too severe, either way, cold or hot! After moving, treat the plant like a giant cutting.... that is to say, give lots of water (and I would suggest some bone meal mixed in the soil of the new planting hole too, as a boost) and make sure the plant is staked if in an exposed position.... we favour low level multi stakes for that purpose.... keeps the root ball steady but lets the top move more freely to strengthen up.

[cohan]

The idea of pre-digging is to encourage the plants to form new fibrous roots around the cut edges so that they will get a fast start into establishing in their new home. I would think a few weeks, say a couple of months is enough

good tips, thanks! i had been mostly thinking of very small seedlings(under a foot), but there are some several feet tall too....
later i realised this could also help with a couple of other things i had wanted to move-- a vining honeysuckle that has been in its spot for years, and was quite large, but it had declined and i cut it back a lot, and a virginia creeper..
my mom had planted these a few years or more ago, and basically right in front of the house, where i'd rather have a rock garden! plus the creeper doesnt have anywhere to creep there...
these, i expect will be a real trauma to move...lol

[Maggi Young]

these, i expect will be a real trauma to move...

Just start the exercise programme, the steroids and the extra vitamins now, Cohan! 

[cohan]

these, i expect will be a real trauma to move...

Just start the exercise programme, the steroids and the extra vitamins now, Cohan! 

good idea! seriously, moving those is nothing to what i have planned (fantasised perhaps i should say..):
veggie gardens, herb gardens, wildflowers in shade and bog, rock gardens for sempervivums and european allies, perhaps for rosularia and turkish friends, for western north american alpines, for cacti and western north american dryland plants, and a few other things...
most of these are starting from scratch, including digging sod(makes it sound so simple and clean!) and lots and lots of tree roots..
i may not finish all of these this year... i couldnt decide which icon was best, so i opted for several!

[Sinchets]

i may not finish all of these this year... [/quote]
...but it's the grand designs that make you leap out of bed in the morning 

[Maggi Young]

...but it's the grand designs that make you leap out of bed in the morning 

Only thing that speeds me out of bed is a sharply placed foot in the back!