I need to (ok, want to) redo my gardens, and I usually do all my
dividing and transplanting/moving in the early spring. But, with all the
work involved (including re-digging my pond), I'd like to get as much as
possible completed this fall. I have about 20 shrubs of varying sizes,
and about 60 perennials. Almost everything will be moved. I'm not a
newbie, and know how and what to do, but I would really like to get your
thoughts about moving them in the fall. Thanks.

Mark - Zone 4

Mark - Zone 4 wrote in message ...

but I would really like to get your
thoughts about moving them in the fall. Thanks.

Mark - Zone 4

I say go for it! My experience is that fall planting is the best
time, although I do live in zone 6. Just be sure to do it several
months before the ground freezes (I plant in Sept, and the ground
freezes for real around mid-December). Talk to a local nursery, and
see what they have to say...

Garden Envy
www.garden-envy.com :: free gardening newsletter, tips, fact sheets
and more!

Moving most perennials and shrubs in the fall is a great time - some warm
soil time for the roots to grow without having to cope with all the heat and
moisture stress of summer with an inadequate root system. Certain plants
don't move well in the fall - it's often recommended not to plant
caryopteris in the fall because the wood needs to harden off to survive the
winter and sometimes fall planting will stimulate new growth. Oriental
poppies should be moved before they start showing new growth - which
sometimes happens as early as September. But most things will do just fine.
I planted one entire bed with cheapo end-of-the-season 50 cent pots of dried
out perennials in late September, early October one year, and every single
thing survived the winter, and bloomed the next spring and summer!.... (We
had some amount of ice and/or snow on the ground that year from Nov. 19-
March 10).
"Mark - Zone 4" wrote in message
...
I need to (ok, want to) redo my gardens, and I usually do all my
dividing and transplanting/moving in the early spring. But, with all the
work involved (including re-digging my pond), I'd like to get as much as
possible completed this fall. I have about 20 shrubs of varying sizes,
and about 60 perennials. Almost everything will be moved. I'm not a
newbie, and know how and what to do, but I would really like to get your
thoughts about moving them in the fall. Thanks.

Mark - Zone 4