I'm guessing I need to be more clear with my question. I should have added, "without damaging the plant". So even more specifically, Does the soil need to be above a certain temperature when transplanting?

LOL!

But seriously, wait till the soil does not look and feel wet/muddy. The frost should be out of the deeper layers of the soil, so that the wetness can sink down and disappear. Transplanting in wet soil kills the soil structure, especially in heavy clay soils.

no temp issue ...

but there could be an issue of you stomping thru your beds compressing fluffy spring soil ... leading to hard soil in summer ... [same as answer above]

with plants from your own yard ... all hardened off to your local weather .. all winter long.. there is simply no issue about when it can be done ...

and in fact.. the plant will probably never know you did it ...since it will have weeks or months for the roots to get settled... before the heat of summer ...

now.. if you mail ordered in some plants from a warmer zone ... or they were trucked into bigbox too early.. then you might have some cold issues ... you might stress them severely ...

ken

In our garden (zone 5b) there's perhaps an average of an inch of very wet soil on top with still frozen ground below that. Not a time for us to move any perennials (as included above).

So, sunnyborders, how many inches, beyond/beneath the hole that I transplant into, should there be of non frozen earth:

When I plant perennial beds here (in season) I prepare the soil down for a foot (though with the our usual heavy clay, it can be necessary to also pickaxe below that foot (drainage)). That's the kind of depth I'd personally want to work with.

Actually, just being able to"work the soil" for the whole planting depth should indicate what's required. The main issue here is that the soil can't be too wet (as per gdinieontarioz5 above).

Thank you. I wish there was a tool that I could insert into the soil that would tell me exactly the right time regarding too much moisture, etc. But Ken says I can do it any ol' time. Hmmm....Thank you all for your input.

You have such a tool at arms length.

Dig down a few inches and take the soil and roll it gently into a golf ball size. Poke it with your finger and if it breaks apart, dig away. If it doesn't break apart it is too wet.

tj

Awesome. Such clear and simple instructions....THANK YOU!

Buddy as long as the soil is workable and not frozen you can transplant.

Everything is dormant now and it won’t harm them.

I divided and transplanted about 30 plants a couple of weeks ago. Would have done more but where I wanted to put them was still frozen as it is semi shaded. A good rain was coming that night, so it was the perfect time!

You can always divide your plants now too and get more, instead of just transplanting one....that is if you want more and have the room.

If you choose to divide I would recommend to dig your new holes first, then dig out the plant and divide it. Depending on how big the plant is or how many you want will determine how to divide it up. I personally use my Cutco serrated knife to cut up my divisions. I never did like it in the kitchen but boy do I love it in the garden! Lol

If you can do it right before you know it’s going to rain, that is the best time as you dont have to worry about watering them. Nothing better than rain water!

I have done this many times with great success.

I know it seems like you are killing the plant but trust me you won’t.

Good luck and happy gardening :0)

ETA if your soil is that wet I’m thinking it’s in a low-lying area or you have bad draining soil.... not a good place for perennials unless of course theyre moisture loving

Buddy, encouraging, but also sensible advice, from GardenHo.

In our garden, the soil surface is wet and we're on locally high ground; however, it's also been raining on-and-off for several days and we do have well prepared soil containing lots of organic matter.

I also don't believe that our spring-flowering perennials, in sunny spots, are currently dormant (noticeably the hellebores, primulas and lungworts).

It has been said: "Garden plants don't die. Gardeners kill them". But after years of learning-on-the-job, I'm now sure that it's really not so easy, for a conscientious gardener, to kill many of the common garden perennials.