Personally, I would do the planting during your "window" between April 7 and 14. I do my planting right around April 15 Tax Day. I'm on Long Island (Western Suffolk County).

You can transplant right now. If you can work the ground and new growth is showing, you can transplant.

Craig, I left that out of my "newbie needs help tome" but was also wondering about when I can transplant safely.

There's a current window of 40-50F days ahead with cooler nights but I'm very hesitant to transplant now because I know there could be another spell of freezing...or a surprise late March snow. Think relocated plants would be negatively impacted by a freeze around their new little root zone when they're already stressed by transplantation.

First day of Spring is March 20th so you might try before you leave on the 28th (very early Spring) OR wait until that window of time between the two trips (still pretty early Spring).

If you read my other post you know enough to take my observations with a block of salt no matter how logical they might seem to me...LOL.

Good luck with whatever you decide to do.

Leslie

'Freeze' is a meaningless term when used around hardy plants. There are temperatures of concern, but those are usually below at least 25°F.

Here, the usual gating factor isn't cold but moisture. We really should wait for the soil to dry out a bit before messing around in it, and that's what takes time.

I have 2 issues when planning to transplant:

Is the ground frozen?

Do I have off that day?

I haven't lost much thus far and I do try to avoid working with muddy ground as MG suggests. With a busy work schedule, I can't always pick the perfect time. Getting a big root ball seems to reduce stress and improve results.

I would also consider the following:

What condition are the plants that you are transplanting? Are they mature? Are they well-established? Are they relatively healthy? If so, you have more room to maneouver.

Also, one of the biggest dangers this time of year is recurring freeze-thaw cycles. Plants that are not well-established (either the previous year, or just recently transplanted) may get exposed.

When you refer to 'freeze-thaw' cycles, just what exactly do you mean?

We will have extended periods of time when daily highs are above freezing, and daily lows are below freezing. It absolutely destroys hardscaping, but so long as the absolute lows are reasonable for the time of year, and the plant are hardy, it really seems to have no effect on the plants.

dormant plants can be moved whenever the soil is workable ...

this is how i understand it ... short and simple ...

there is little or no interruption of fluid flow when the plant is dormant ... ergo .. basically .. you are moving a frozen chicken from one freezer to the other ... i dont know why i used chix ..???

if you wait to long.. and the plant becomes active .. and then you dig it.. and interfere with the movement to of water from root to leaf ... it will flop.. or go into shock .. and take longer to recover ... it wont die.. it just wont look as pretty ...

frankly.. with enough water and TLC.. you can do it anytime of the year ...

the only issue is how forgiving the plant will be to the insult to its roots ...

and a dormant plant is fully forgiving.. presuming you dont cut off all its roots in toto ...

the biggest thing newbies have to get over is fear ... JUST DO IT .. and quite worrying about them ...

and if the plant is big enough.. you can drop it a few times.. or throw it across the yard.. until it falls apart.. and then you will have divided it.. and have multiples of what you started with ...

yes this time of year... dig.. cut.. throw.. drop ... replant.. do whatever you want .... and you will have success ...

carpe plantum ... go seize the plant.. and do the right thing.. lol

good luck

ken

Sometimes poorly established plants can "heave" out of their new home during the freeze-thaw cycles (periods of time when temps are above or below freezing) that are common this time of year. This can expose roots or other parts of the plant to less than ideal conditions.

This depends somewhat on what exactly you transplant. A large, established "clump" of a relatively hardy plant will be OK. A small clump of a less hardy plant, that possibly was not well-established last year (e.g. planted late), may be prone to heaving and not do so well.

Otherwise, as someone else mentioned give it a try, and live and learn.

Here's to dirt under your nails.

Harryshoe, you have a little piece of garden heaven you've created. Wow!

Newbies like myself seem to agonize over every plant probably because we don't have nearly as many as you've got and they're all "new"...either in the ground or to our experience.

Planning (too little/too lofty) and execution (rushed) of too many goals at the same time is a problem for me. Add to that the uncertainty of what plants like or can tolerate and the impact of losing plants on a limited budget and you've got a recipe for a very nervous gardener.

If pressed to admit reality all I probably needed last year was the milkweed, fennel & zinnia to have Black Swallowtails & Monarchs to raise and some red Salvia coccinea to see my first Hummingbird up close and personal.

Tulips and the Heavenly Blue Morning Glory were all my father needed to make him happy.

I gotta keep telling myself the rest is just gravy even though I want to have something now that looks like Better Homes and Gardens.

Maybe I'll make this a year when I try to stop and smell the roses more...the ones that I still have to treat with dormant lime/sulphur to help stave off the blackspot that decimated rose bushes last year. It was late August by the time I realized my father had adjusted sprinkler heads so rose bushes were getting overhead watering 3 times a week! "We" moved the water spray back so this year should be better with preventative care.

I know wet soil turns into concrete if walked on now so I'm being vigilant about not tip-toeing through the tulips. Learned that the "hard" way last year. Just spray from afar critter repellant on emerging tulips like the Madwoman of Chaillot. LOL

I'm still sowing varieties of Agastache, more Salvia and anything else that serves butterflies & hummingbirds and is remotely critter resistant.

I've got to enjoy this temporary gardening experience for everything it's worth while I still have my father's place to do it...and I'm really going to try this year.

Realistic words of wisdom from experienced garderners is appreciated in terms of that goal. :)

I'm in 6a. I don't start planting or dividing until Mother's Day. By then I'm sure to have avoided any chance of a freak frost. We can get freezing rains or snow all the way until April.

I do, however, start cutting back grasses and other perennials in March, just before new growth emerges. This is a good time to prune roses too.

Hold off on dividing anything yet until you know when your last frost date is predicted.

A 'Freak frost' will only affect tender plants--like putting your tomatoes or eggplants out too early. Your perennials won't care at all--unless they've just arrived from a nursery where they weren't yet hardened off. Move around stuff from your own garden as soon as you can dig in the soil.