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Got suggestions for moving creeping phlox?

gardenfanatic2003

13 years ago

I've got a patch of creeping phlox that's gotten huge, and I'd like to spread some around to different beds. I love having that early spring bloom! Anyway, it doesn't seem to have much of a root system, so I'm wondering how to move it in such a way that it will root into the new area without dying first. I'd like to move some of it to a slope, which seems like it would be particularly difficult to get to root in. Should I dig it up soil and all? That would be taking out a lot of soil in that one bed that would have to be filled back in. Not to mention, with no real roots to hold the soil together, it would probably just fall apart. That's what happened when I tried to share some with someone last year.

Deanna

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Comments (4)

ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
13 years ago
i have killed about 100 of them.. lol ..

all i say is.. dont move them.. and then expect nice flowers .... do it after flowering..

but then.. thats probably the heat of summer..

so i am going to guess ... this might be best done in fall ...

lets see if i am right ...

ken
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growlove
13 years ago
I planted a pot of pink creeping phlox in Spring and took a few pieces from it and moved in late summer. I simply pulled them gently away from the original, stirred up a little soil close by and partially buried them. I see they are all alive and green perhaps because we had such good snow cover. Mary
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quilt_mommy
13 years ago
I am no expert, I tend to learn by trial and error, but I divide my creeping phlox in the spring and in my experience it's just plain old luck if you get good blooms or not. Usually if it's done early enough it will still get going but sometimes it just fizzles out and looks yucky for me for about a year, then comes back full force the following spring. When dividing or even adding plants I tend to plan for next years blooms. In all honesty even though the suggestion is generally to move and divide things in the spring or fall, I have moved things whenever I pleased and at the very worst the outcome has usually been a sorry looking plant for the remainder of the summer, only to recover over winter and come back nice and healthy as if nothing happened the following year. Of course I have killed a plant or two, but not by moving at the wrong time of year. If I get the urge to move something in August I just try to do it early in the morning before the heat sets in! LOL* ;) Good luck with your phlox, I'm sure as long as you get a good hunk of its roots it will establish just fine. :)
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Tiffany, purpleinopp Z8b Opp, AL
13 years ago
In general, if you're going to move plants, you want to get as much undisturbed root ball as possible. Yes, it usually leaves a hole to be filled in. If you want to move part of a clump, like creeping phlox, plunge your shovel deeply (straight down) into the plant where you want to separate it, then dig around the edges until it is loose. I usually use my shovel to scoop up the whole thing so it doesn't fall apart. Put it in its' new home with as little disturbance to the root ball as possible and water gently but thoroughly. If it's already hot out, you can straddle a lawn chair over it for a few days until it stops wilting. Creeping phlox usually pout until the next spring. Don't let new transplants dry out.
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