Transplanting Established Perennial Flowers

…Or How to Pack Up Your Garden and Move

Sometimes we have to move. Ideally we garden as though we’ll be in a place forever. But it doesn’t always work out that way. And if your garden is full of beautiful flowering perennials like mine is, you’ve been putting so much energy and effort and love into your plants (and your soil!), you just can’t leave them behind.

Or sometimes we need to transplant plants to correct their sun exposure or to make a landscape or garden arrangement prettier.

The ideal time to move plants is when they’re dormant, usually fall or winter. But we can’t always have perfect timing. I had to move in May. In April most of my cutting flower perennials had been putting on a lot of growth—even pushing up flower stems and buds. Most of these plants had been in my garden for three years and it was the biggest they’d been. I’d been looking forward to that spring and summer to provide an abundance of flowers.

But instead I had to dig them up right when all their energy was going to flowering. I had about 100 plants to dig up. That’s a lot of pots and potting soil.

I dug them, severed many roots, plopped them or squeezed them into pots of potting soil, placed them in the shade, and watered them like crazy. All the plants cringed at having their roots severed, but most recovered. Some even went on to bloom in their pots. I ended up with a 98% success rate.

If you need help in taking the plunge and moving your plants, I’ve done it…twice. For all 100 of my perennials. Here I offer how I did it.

The best time to dig up your plants

Of course, the best time to dig up plants is when they’re dormant, in fall or winter. If you’re not dealing with optimum timing, the best times are either in the evening when the sun is off the plants, or in the morning before the sun hits the plants and they’re rehydrated.

For transplanting to a new spot on your property, evening is best because overnight it can start to adjust with no stress on it, especially if there’s no shade.

I ended up digging up many plants in the morning as the sun started to hit them. Once I had them potted I quickly put them into deep shade and watered thoroughly.

Materials you’ll need to pack your plants for a move to a new home

If you’re moving to a new place you likely don’t have a garden space prepared. So you’ll need to put your plants into pots with some potting soil.

Have quality moistened (but not wet) potting soil; point tip shovel; pots of various sizes—I used mostly 1 and 2 gallon sized pots; several 4 inch pots for any smaller plants, root, and tuber cuttings, and a few 5 gallon sized pots; a trowel; good quality clippers; shaded area; and water source.

Pots and potting soil

Used, common, clean, black plastic nursery pots are cheap and easy to find.

Start with a big enough pot, but not too big. Bigger pots will take up more soil so try to use the smallest ones possible for each plant. There are two reasons for this. One is it gets expensive to buy a lot of soil. The other is you need to let the roots grow and fill in the pot before you can take it back out of the pot and into the new garden. Otherwise those delicate new roots can break during planting.

Judging the pot size depends on the size of the pot the plant was planted from and how much it’s grown. Choose the next size up from where you started or bigger if it’s an older plant.

I put some plants into 5 gallon pots but with only enough soil to allow the roots to grow a few inches. This way I get more width and a little more depth without using too much soil. It’s lighter to move that way, too.

You may end up dividing some plants into smaller plants as you go. This may be the case for plants like alstroemerias, bee balm, and perennial sunflowers. I tried to get a large part of these types of plants into one larger pot, but put back-up pieces of plant and roots into smaller pots. That way I’m propagating more plants (should my larger ones fail).

Use a good bagged potting soil from your local nursery. Never use the soil from your garden, it won’t have the drainage potted plants need.

If you’re transplanting to another part of your landscape

It’s best to dig the new holes before you dig out the plants to be moved. For many  perennials it’s fine to add some compost and organic fertilizer to the soil. Mulch with compost.

But for shrubs and trees, research has shown that it’s better to rough up the hole walls and bottom, backfill the hole with a little organic fertilizer, no amendment, and water well. Plant “proud”, which means a little higher than the ground level; this accommodates settling. Apply 3 or 4 in. of organic mulch or composts to the surface, wider than the hole. This is for best root development.

Dig and sever the roots

Have potting soil in bottom of the pot, and an extra bucket of soil handy. Dig all around the base of the plant, to about the pot size it’s going into. Dig the shovel down and under the base as deeply as you can. Aim to cut the roots at about the new pot size. Listen for the root cutting as you go. (Painful, yes!!) Try to get them all cut. You may have to cut some of the bigger and deeper ones with your clippers.

When the plant is loosened and roots cut, lift with the shovel and hands. A lot of loose soil may fall off. Mine sure did because the soil was dry. Plunk that root mass into the new pot, on into the prepared hole. Try to get the roots aiming down, but don’t worry if you can’t get it perfect. Quickly add potting soil to the pot, or backfill soil to the hole. Use your fingers to be sure the soil is packed down and no air bubbles are hiding.

Work quickly and try not to expose the roots to sunlight.

If you’re moving woody plants, you may need to trim some of the top back a bit so the plant doesn’t need to work too hard.

Place in shade and water thoroughly

If you moved the plants into pots, place the newly potted plants in a shady resting spot and water thoroughly. Check for spots in the pots that need more soil and add it. Keep the plants cool, shaded, and well-watered until the leaves have perked up.

If your potting mix has good nutrients you won’t need to fertilize for a few weeks. Let the plants ease into their new digs gently. Most will cringe, but keep them well-watered and they should perk up in a day or two. Sometimes more.

Fertilize after a few weeks

Use a liquid fertilizer, at a weaker concentration than recommended. I use half concentration until the plant is well along the way to recovery. This is just to start feeding them once their roots have started to grow, but a weak concentration is gentle to the new roots.

An advantage of a liquid fertilizer is that it can also be used as a foliar. This means that when you sprinkle it on the foliage, in addition to the soil surface, the foliage takes up the fertilizer, too. This is especially good for plants with a lot of growth on top that fills the pot surface. I use Max Sea fertilizer* for all my outdoor potted plants. It’s easy to use. It’s granular to be dissolved in water. Choose a balanced formula, for Max Sea it’s 20-20-20. But dilute for a while then follow the package directions.

Best time to fertilize

Fertilize plants that are well-watered. If using as a foliar have the foliage dry. Then with a watering can sprinkle the liquid fertilizer onto the soil and the foliage. Do this when the sun and the heat of day is not on them, early morning or the late afternoon or evening.

In my dry climate I have little worry that the foliage will attract fungal growth by being wet overnight. But if you are in a humid climate, or in a wet time of year, do this in the early morning.

Let the fertilizer stay on the foliage till dry for best nutrient uptake.    

Some plants will need a little pruning

If not all the leaves of your plants are perking up, you can remove them. Just clip them off. Most likely the core of the plant is trying hard to keep going, so by removing the failing foliage the plants and roots don’t have to even think about trying to keep it all going, just the center of the plant. It will then be able to grow new leaves when it’s ready.

Wait a while before planting out

Let the roots fill grow and fill the pot before replanting. This will depend on how fast they grow, how much root mass was severed, and so on. Wait at least a month or two. If you pull the plant out too soon, you risk ripping all the new root growth that was made in the pot and you may miss a year of bloom. You want enough root mass to hold the soil together.

You most likely need to create new beds before you plant your plants, so they will wait happily.

Just keep them watered and increase the strength of fertilizer to according to manufacturer’s directions. Also, gradually increase the sun they get. Up to six  hours a day would be enough for most or the plants while in pots.

If you have moved you can now look forward to planning the new garden!

I eventually got all my plants into their new garden the following fall. I lost only two plants.

But… I had to move again… two years later… to a permanent house! This time we moved in fall. My method was crazy busy: I dug up plants, put them with some of their soil into crates, dug and amended soil for new beds at the new place and planted, then went back for more plants. And repeated the process many times. I had the opportunity to do that after we moved, thankfully, and the space was flat and easy to clear and prepare. It took about two weeks.

And the plants responded beautifully!

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