I need to transplant some peonies. All of them were planted this spring, so I just poked them in some places where I had room. Six of them were seed grown hybrids I bought from Bill ? on Ebay. I wanted to see what color they were before I permanently sited them. Three of them bloomed, so I know where I want to plant them. I planted another one in the right bed but the wrong location. Will it be alright to move them this fall? I've read peonies do not like to be moved. I also know that tubers are usually planted in the fall.
Transplanting
If you take care of not disturbing much of the root and transplant them early fall in such a way that they are establish in the ground before the 1st frost, they will be fine.
Dig a hole, large enough to accommodate the roots and make sure that the eyes, small, red-colored buds are only one to two inches below the surface. They love a rich soil, you can place aged organic matter in the bottom of the hole.
I hope that they flower beautiful for you and that they will be beautiful and fragrant.
Good luck !
Cristina
I'm moving several this fall, one for the 3rd time in 3 years. The first year I was scared to death, but the peony had to be moved. It was too near the outdoor faucet and I had never seen it bloom because DH (not my husband then) stepped on it every year when he turned the water on in the spring. I did as Cristina said, dug a big hole, added some granulated manure (Espoma), mixed it in well, and made sure not to plant the bud to deep. Lo and behold, it bloomed the very next spring.
So the next year I moved it again to improve the design, and added a couple more that had become too shaded where they were. The roots on one were humongous and I couldn't get it up without cutting some quite badly. They all bloomed this spring.
This year, 3rd time's a charm (I hope!), I'm re-working that bed yet again, and that same first eony is on the list. Nothing to it!
Good luck!
Pfg if you feel one of your plants is too big you can divide them now, the best time is early Fall, you can cut the plant cluster into smaller pieces using a sharp knife, making sure that each new division has at least 3 buds and a good amount of roots and then you will have some more plants in your garden.adequate root.
OMG, I had quite a day! I moved one old, enormous Duchess de Nemours and felt like a murderer! I really thought I had dug down deep enough, and carefully felt around for the roots that stuck out to the sides, and STILL broke of fan enormous deep set of very, very fat roots. :-(.
But I soldiered on, managed to divide the plant in 2, which was necessary for my plan, cut the foliage back to one set of leaves for each stalk, added granulated manure to the new holes and watered a ton. I guess I can't expect much from it next year. It would be nice to get a bloom, but she's worth waiting for.
Then I moved 7 more peonies, all but one had been moved or planted last year, and that one had only been in place for 3 years, so they were not so unmanageable,
I AM NEVER MOVING ANOTHER PEONY!!!!!!!!
LOL... Of course I will, if I think it will make that much of a difference... But not for a loooooong while!
SBounds, thanks for starting this thread. I have several Hollingsworth herbaceous peonies that need to be moved. The bearded irises have multiplied so quickly, and they are crowding out the peonies.
I need to move the peonies forward in one of the beds so that they can get more sunlight. Some of irises will also get divided and move to the other peony bed, but I have to wait until it gets a little cooler here.