To move Hydrangeas? I know we probably haven't seen the last of winter, but right now the ground is thawed and the bushes are still dormant. They are all small to medium-sized - anywhere from 1-3 years old.
Thanks!
Is it too early....
Not too early. As long as the ground is workable, you're good to go.
I have some old huge clumps of arborescens that I want to split and I'll probably have myself all neurotic trying to catch them before they break dormancy and as soon as my sticky clay soil is workable. My soil is almost right for pottery, in fact they made flower pots and bricks up the road ( Brickyard Road). I want to try and catch some beaked hazel and some witch-hazel and spice bush but Spring comes so fast around here that ther's only a narrow window when the buds start to develop. I did get some suckers from the beaked hazel one year and then stuck some arborescens cuttings so close I now need to dig the whole mess up. Don't do as I do, learn from my disasters!!--------------Weedy
Thanks Victor. But I guess the ground isn't totally thawed afterall :(
need to move a couple hydrangea myself - maybe next week after the raking is done.
I want to move a couple of azelas - across the street into my neighbor's yard. LOL Here I go again!
You're lucky to have azaleas, Memory...they don't do well for me. I'm waiting til beginning of April to move stuff.
Do you want the two I need to find new homes for? One is yellow and the other orange.
Patience. Move shrubs up there now and you could lose them. Wait for warmer times.
Martha
No thanks, Memory...they'll just up & die like all the others....I've managed to keep one alive...it's a neon purple.
No - not if they are dormant and the ground is not frozen. I've done it.
hmm. well, we've had 50 degree days here for the last 4 days and if we get many more such days, the forsythia will be out. It's a tricky time.
Martha
The time it definitely should NOT be done is during early leaf, when freezing temps are still a possibility.
i agree - when dormant is the best time - and martha with the 1-2" of rain that is expected this weekend i might tackle a couple the end of the week.
Yes - shrubs and trees.
With the impending rain it would be near perfect in fact, the moisture would help loosen any compaction you caused while digging and help silt in the new planting, especially if you amended the soil with compost or something. Ric
You Guys are instigators. There is still snow on the ground here but there are large bare spots where it has melted. Stuck a fork in and the ground was not frozen and fairly loose. Went back and yanked some clumps of Hydrangea arborescens out of the ground. Darn things had roots an inch thick and three feet or more long. Decided I couldn't deal with that so I cut the tops back to five or six inches and the roots almost as short. I figure if the dumb things will grow if you stick a pruned branch in the ground they should grow from bases with some roots and dormant buds. We shall see before the summer is over!! If they grow I'll just mulch them and pour on some liquid fertilizer, I don't expect much from them this year. Meanwhile I'll continue to move every ditch lily I can rustle or dig up wild into piles of compost in front of them. After a year or so the mess may take care of itself.------------------------------------------------------Weedier than ever
I have daffodil shoots up, but the ground is still very cold and possibly frozen in spots here in MA. Maybe I could transplant something from one side to the other of my south facing beds, but no way on the north face.
Martha
i will be doing some transplanting tomorrow - hydrangea - forest pansy redbud - and maybe a virdis jm that needs to be moved a few feet - as well as a few others!
weedy i noticed while raking some of my larger hydrangea and pjm azeala have sprouted new babies from branches covered with dirt - may try and pot some of them up too.
Well, I was able to move two of the hydrangeas on Sunday. The others were in more shade so the ground was still too hard. I think they might come up now though since we've had several 50 degree days in a row. I'll have to move them before the rains. I''m afraid to wait any longer. With all the warm weather we've been having, I think everything is going to start leafing soon. Hopefully winter doesn't return!
Victor you may know this (or anyone else) - Is now also a good time to prune acer griseum (paperbark maple)? Or does the sap run in March like other maples?
Sap is probably running. I would have done it earlier. However, if it's a necessary pruning, it will certainly be okay.
Nah, not really necessary. Just desired. I want to open it up a little to show off more of the cool trunk/bark.
With both the one Hydrangea I have and with roses I pin them down with whatever, even set a brick or rock on them and cover the cane or branch with mulch or soil and layer new plants. I walked a red twig dogwood twenty feet one time by layering one branch after another. Unfortunately the rose and one big clump of arborescens are now a crowded tangle from my layering---I may try to cut some of the plants loose from the parent and move them, those I moved today were probably branches I laid on the ground years ago' they probably should be moved as soon as rooted.--------------------Weedy
i picked off some seeds from my paperbark yesterday that stayed on through the winter - might try to grow a few more.
I grew paper bark , Acer griseum , from seed once and it took me two years, it apparently has double dormancy. Also most of the seeds I gathered had nothing in the hard coating and I gathered a lunch bag full from an arboretum that has groves of them so they don't seem to pollinate well--I can't remember if pollen and seed pods are on different trees. But I planted them in a frame one fall expecting them to germinate in the Spring. They didn't so I dug them up and found that at least the seed coat could be broken open. The next fall I put the naked seeds in the frig in damp paper towels and when they germinated planted them in a pot which I planted outside. Eventually they grew about six feet tall then when the plumber put in our five thousand dollar septic system he destroyed them with the back hoe putting in the septic tank---one of these years I may try to swipe some more seeds but I'll have to live a bit longer.---------------------------Weedy
thx weedy - i remember you told us about growing them from seed - i only have one tree and maybe 10 seed heads - will make sure i sand down seed covering.
Bill, did you grow your one tree from seed too?
no i bought mine a couple years ago - was not expensive at all - just like to see if i can grow one from seed - like the 25 plastic milk containers i have out winter sowing - was laughing at myself walking past them today - no where to plant half of them
Good thing you have lots of gardening friends! (And some of them live just over the border (he he). So what's in the jugs?
:) - 2 hh's, 2 - deph's - 2 - marigold's, blue himalayan poppy, 2 candy lilies, 3 stokesia, variegated phlox, all i can remember off the top of my head - i will let you know what blooms and if there are any extras - oh, more rudbeckia gloriosa and double gold in case they did not come back.
Is it too early to plant sweet peas outside?
not for sweet pea's - plant away
I think this is the right time.
I've been meaning to plant both sweet peas and regular peas the last couple days but have not gotten to it yet, maybe this weekend.
I was able to get in the veggie garden a little while yesterday and turn enough soil with my digging fork to possibly til it today and get my peas, radishes, and onions in tomorrow. We added a good deal of compost last year and the soil was well enough drained as not to clump up. My grandson JR will be here and usually loves to help. He should enjoy growing a bean house again this summer, I want to cover a small arbor with pole beans. The other year we grew a bean tent, but he didn't get to use it much. We are also doing more potato containers this year, we did very well with those last year in spite of the wet conditions. Ric
Thanks, folks---they'll go in today after soaking.
Sweet peas, larkspur, & poppies planted today.
I'd like to get some peas planted. I have sweet peas I can plant. Poppies, too. Lots of stuff. I gotta go through my seed packets and see what I've got.
Ric, I read that you can mound up leaves and plant your potatoes in them. Saves you from bending over and from digging once they're ready. I think I'll try that this year.
Karen
I do potatoes in large pots, works great. In fact I had some from the grocery that sprouted, so I potted a couple up to see what would happen, one pot has a good sized plant growing so far.