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Should I dig up before or after they bloom?

gardener_at_the_gate

13 years ago

Last winter I added a rough flagstone path through the center of a garden area that was too wide and disorganized to get into to weed.

Now I have a problem with the placement of daylilies that line the border of the garden. I need to move a 3 foot section of the daylily border, otherwise, I have to step OVER the daylilies to reach my new flagstone path.

Here's my question -- can I relocate the daylilies now before they bloom, or should I wait until after they bloom and then move them? I don't really care if they bloom this year so long as I don't kill them off.

Suggestions would be most welcome!

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Comments (5)

floota
13 years ago
Dig them now - if you can lift the entire clump and transplant them to another location quickly and water in well, they might not even know they've been moved. If you have a garden fork (pitchfork) instead of a shovel, you will do less root damage when digging them.
jaco42
13 years ago
Garden-I move mine at anytime of the year. If you are not concerned with bloom this year i would go ahead and move them as you have the time to do so.
The only thing I would do other than watch the water is maybe trim the foilage back when they are moved.

good luck and happy gardening, jaco
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nancykvb
13 years ago
I would move them now. I like to cut the foliage back when I dig them up so the plant puts most of it's energy into the roots. Then when the foliage starts to grow it tells me the plant is on it's way to a full recovery.

Nancy VB
floota
13 years ago
If you can lift the entire clump w/o doing much damage to the roots, you may not even need to transplant the foliage. Whenever I have to lift a plant and remove all the dirt from it - YES - trim the foliage, but if you can lift a clump and plop it right down into another freshly dug hole, you shouldn't need to cut back.
beachlily z9a
13 years ago
I would recommend having the new location's hole already dug before digging the clump. If you get a lot of dirt and just move it to it's new location, you probably don't even need to cut the foliage. I do agree with floota! As usual.

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