The Best Time to Relocate Plants

Planning

• Take time in winter to plan for the perennial plants in your landscape. Are there some that have outgrown their space, spots you need to fill or established tubers that should be dug up and transplanted? Successful relocating means moving plants when it least disturbs their growth, and getting them back in the ground quickly. If you know where to move them, you can prepare the new site to increase transplanting success.

Woody Plants

• While some trees and shrubs can survive transplanting anytime as long as the ground isn’t frozen, woody plants moved at their peak growth in late spring or early summer are more likely to show transplant injury. Move shrubs and trees in early spring before their buds begin to swell for best success.
  You also can move deciduous woody plants after their leaves drop in the fall, but well before the ground freezes to allow time for them to grow new water-absorbing roots to help them survive a dry winter.
  Evergreen shrubs and trees are susceptible to winter browning and are best moved in the spring. If necessary, move them in late summer or early fall to give as much time as possible for new roots to form and store water for the winter.

Flowers

• In temperate zones, transplant annuals germinated indoors as soon as the ground and weather are warm in the spring and the danger of frost has passed. Move herbaceous perennials before they bud in the spring or after they have finished blooming and are dormant. In warm climates, move continuously flowering plants during mild weather and transplant tender species after frost withers them to the ground.
  Dig up, divide and move spring and summer bulbs and rhizomes like iris, lilies and tulips well after they have bloomed, in late summer or fall when they are dormant.

Preparation

• Prepare the soil in the new spot before digging any plant out of its bed. Add organic matter like bone meal, peat moss or compost for a nutrient-rich soil. Dig the hole larger than the root spread of the transplant and soak it with water. Dig up the old plant with as much of the root structure as possible. Remove decayed or dead roots and wrap the rest immediately, keeping them moist at all times. Move the plant by hand or wheelbarrow quickly to the new site. Plant at the same depth in which it was growing, cover with soil and soak with water. Place mulch around the plant to hold in moisture. If you have to delay planting, store a transplant in a protected, shady location, keep roots moist and plant as quickly as you can.