A friend wants some of my snowdrops, but I don't want to damage them by
digging them up at the wrong time. How and when should I do it?

--
Androo

In message , androo
writes
A friend wants some of my snowdrops, but I don't want to damage them by
digging them up at the wrong time. How and when should I do it?

They are quite tough. Wait until they have finished flowering and died
off, then dig them up. Bas digs ours up every year and they have not
come to any harm in 21 years. (He claims to hate gardening but does all
the back-breaking hard work in our garden before I do the enjoyable
stuff, which he isn't interested in.
--
June Hughes

A friend wants some of my snowdrops, but I don't want to damage them by
digging them up at the wrong time. How and when should I do it?

now is a good time - it is best to move them "in the green" which means
whilst they have green leaves sticking up.

--
Hayley
(gardening on well drained, alkaline clay in Somerset)

June Hughes wrote:
They are quite tough. Wait until they have finished flowering and died
off, then dig them up. Bas digs ours up every year and they have not
come to any harm in 21 years. (He claims to hate gardening but does all
the back-breaking hard work in our garden before I do the enjoyable
stuff, which he isn't interested in.

Would this be the same for bluebells? I have more this year and I'd
like to move a clump further along.

June Hughes writes
In message , androo
writes
A friend wants some of my snowdrops, but I don't want to damage them by
digging them up at the wrong time. How and when should I do it?

They are quite tough. Wait until they have finished flowering and died
off, then dig them up. Bas digs ours up every year and they have not
come to any harm in 21 years. (He claims to hate gardening but does
all the back-breaking hard work in our garden before I do the enjoyable
stuff, which he isn't interested in.

Usual advice is that snowdrops should be moved 'in the green', ie while
still growing, and most specialist bulb firms sell them this way. I
would suggest you move them in the next few weeks.

Perhaps the reason that June is having success moving them after they've
died down is that she's moving them around her own garden, and they have
no chance to dry out.
--
Kay

In message . com, La
Puce writes

June Hughes wrote:
They are quite tough. Wait until they have finished flowering and died
off, then dig them up. Bas digs ours up every year and they have not
come to any harm in 21 years. (He claims to hate gardening but does all
the back-breaking hard work in our garden before I do the enjoyable
stuff, which he isn't interested in.

Would this be the same for bluebells? I have more this year and I'd
like to move a clump further along.

We have never moved our bluebells, although they have had some very
rough treatment from dogs, cats etc. I shouldn't think they would come
to any harm but someone else may know better. I have to say, we had
someone with a rotovator three years ago on the raised bed which has
been their home for probably 50 years and he did some awful things to
them, which didn't harm them at all.
--
June Hughes

In message , H Ryder
writes
A friend wants some of my snowdrops, but I don't want to damage them by
digging them up at the wrong time. How and when should I do it?

now is a good time - it is best to move them "in the green" which means
whilst they have green leaves sticking up.

--
Hayley
(gardening on well drained, alkaline clay in Somerset)


That has not been our experience. Bas has dug them up at any time
between January and May without harming them.
--
June Hughes

In message , K
writes
June Hughes writes
In message , androo
writes
A friend wants some of my snowdrops, but I don't want to damage them by
digging them up at the wrong time. How and when should I do it?

They are quite tough. Wait until they have finished flowering and
died off, then dig them up. Bas digs ours up every year and they have
not come to any harm in 21 years. (He claims to hate gardening but
does all the back-breaking hard work in our garden before I do the
enjoyable stuff, which he isn't interested in.

Usual advice is that snowdrops should be moved 'in the green', ie while
still growing, and most specialist bulb firms sell them this way. I
would suggest you move them in the next few weeks.

Perhaps the reason that June is having success moving them after
they've died down is that she's moving them around her own garden, and
they have no chance to dry out.
Probably, although Bas is no respecter of the plants, indeed sadly he is
no respecter of plants at all - or so he would have me believe - and
when he is weeding in summer, he often leaves the poor snowdrop bulbs
exposed to the elements on top of the soil and that is where they stay.
Perhaps we have just been lucky over the past 21 years. Whatever the
cause, our snowdrops, although a little later than our neighbours' in
flowering, are beautiful and abundant. I have never tried moving them
any distance but they certainly suffer. Of course, that may be because
the ones left underground multiply and the ones on top die. Who knows?
I am no expert. Just an ordinary gardener with years of experience.
--
June Hughes

On 15/3/06 17:33, in article , "June
Hughes" wrote:

In message , H Ryder
writes
A friend wants some of my snowdrops, but I don't want to damage them by
digging them up at the wrong time. How and when should I do it?

now is a good time - it is best to move them "in the green" which means
whilst they have green leaves sticking up.


That has not been our experience. Bas has dug them up at any time
between January and May without harming them.

Nonetheless, all experts agree that moving them 'in the green' is the way to
do it and one should NOT wait for them to die down. There are nurseries
which sell them this way specifically, ours among them. They're available
mail order from some places, too.
--
Sacha
www.hillhousenursery.co.uk
South Devon
)

In message , Sacha
writes
On 15/3/06 17:33, in article , "June
Hughes" wrote:

In message , H Ryder
writes
A friend wants some of my snowdrops, but I don't want to damage them by
digging them up at the wrong time. How and when should I do it?

now is a good time - it is best to move them "in the green" which means
whilst they have green leaves sticking up.


That has not been our experience. Bas has dug them up at any time
between January and May without harming them.

Nonetheless, all experts agree that moving them 'in the green' is the way to
do it and one should NOT wait for them to die down.
Why?
--
June Hughes

"Sacha" wrote in message
id...
On 15/3/06 16:44, in article , "androo"
wrote:

A friend wants some of my snowdrops, but I don't want to damage them by
digging them up at the wrong time. How and when should I do it?

Dig them now, while they're still 'in the green' e.g. still have the
leaves
on them and the flowers just going over. They do much better planted that
way than in simply moving the leafless, flowerless bulbs.
--
Sacha
www.hillhousenursery.co.uk
South Devon
)
~~~~~~~~~~
All experiments have supported Sacha's comments. It is normal to just
wait for the flowers to have lost colour and they transplant easily and with
no hesitation. Removed as bulbs they tend to take a further year to settle
down and are much more difficult to deal with or find!
Bluebells can also be moved and divided 'in the green' but IME they
tend to be very deep~~ at least in my soil. My best result with b.bells, in
a glade, was to spread seeds. The area was 'shimmering' within three years.
Best wishes Brian.

You can dig them up now if you wish, whilst they are in the green.
If you have the choice, just wait a few weeks until the tops have died
down and all the energy from the leaves has transered back to the
bulbs, then lift. This would be my prefered choice.
Having said that, if buying snowdrops, they are invariably sold as in
the green, which is very acceptable.
Clifford
Bawtry, Doncaster, South Yorkshire

Sacha,
My tutor on these matters is a Galanthophile, and his recommendation
was specifically to buy snowdrop bulbs as damp packed, as this produced
yielded bulbs with the gratest energy. I bow to his knowledge as a
holder and propogator of many rare Glanthus.
For commercial mass sale I would agree that in the green sales are
vastly superior to buying prepack dry bulbs (a waste of time).
Clifford
Bawtry, Doncaster, South Yorkshire.

In message , Brian
writes
~~~~~~~~~~
All experiments have supported Sacha's comments. It is normal to just
wait for the flowers to have lost colour and they transplant easily and with
no hesitation. Removed as bulbs they tend to take a further year to settle
down and are much more difficult to deal with or find!
Ah. Thank-you. That seems to be a more practical suggestion as the
bulbs are very small. We have had so many for over twenty years, I have
not had to worry about them but what you say makes more sense than
quoting 'experts'.

--
June Hughes

On 16/3/06 8:36, in article , "June
Hughes" wrote:

In message , Brian
writes
~~~~~~~~~~
All experiments have supported Sacha's comments. It is normal to just
wait for the flowers to have lost colour and they transplant easily and with
no hesitation. Removed as bulbs they tend to take a further year to settle
down and are much more difficult to deal with or find!
Ah. Thank-you. That seems to be a more practical suggestion as the
bulbs are very small. We have had so many for over twenty years, I have
not had to worry about them but what you say makes more sense than
quoting 'experts'.

Experts are experts because they have years of experience of doing correctly
what you are suggesting someone does wrong.
--
Sacha
www.hillhousenursery.co.uk
South Devon
)