Transplanting Peonies
Helpful Tips for Transplanting Peonies
Transplanting peonies is not generally a difficult process. You will follow the same steps as you do for most other plants you might work with. With peonies, the transplanting should be done in the months of autumn, after the plants' period of blooming is over.
There are a variety of reasons for transplanting peonies. You may have found that the plant is not doing well physically, where it is. This could mean that the soil in that area doesn't drain well enough, or that there isn't enough sun. If you remove them from the place where they are not thriving, you can plant the, on a gently rising hill to help with drainage. You will also want to make sure that the new area gets plenty of sun.
There may be other reasons for moving your peonies. Perhaps you've re-planted some of your garden, and the peonies don't look as good where they were. Or they may be too close together, so you choose to move a few of them so that they will all have better growing conditions.
Cut the stems of the peony to near the ground level. Dig around the plant first, well out from the plant and fairly deeply. The root structure beneath the peony can be very large, and you don't want to damage any of the roots while you're transplanting peonies, if you can avoid it.
Once you have the plant out of the ground, remove the majority of the soil from within the root structure. You can do this by shaking the roots lightly, or by running water over them. It will be less messy for you if you do it without the water. After you have all the soil out from the roots, pick a new place to put your plant. Make sure that the place you choose will be able to satisfy all of the plant's needs. It will need a lot of direct sunlight during the day, and the soil should drain well in the area you're thinking of selecting.
The next step in transplanting peonies is to dig a hole for the plant in the newly-selected area. Make sure the hole will be large enough for all the roots to sit without clumping – they need room to take hold and re-establish themselves. Spread the roots out inside the hole, and add a bit of soil in at a time. Tamp the soil firmly so that you won't have any pockets of air, which would lessen the amount of support the plant has. Make sure that the peony's crown, which is where the roots all come together, is an inch or so below the soil surface. Then water the plant gently, and make sure that all the roots have a good steady contact with the soil. Now you can watch your peony thrive in its new location.