Photo credits: Cydney Ross
By Cydney Ross
Q: I am not thrilled with my placement of some plants I planted in late May this year. I was wondering if you can recommend a time to dig up and reposition them? These are the plants I’d like to move:
Butterfly Milkweed
Purple Coneflower
Lanceleaf Coreopsis
Purple Poppy Mallow
Gray Goldenrod
Aromatic Aster
New England Aster
Rose Verbena
Sideoats Grama
A: In my experience I haven’t had trouble digging up and moving them around the garden. With cooler temps, fall is a great time to move herbaceous perennials. Most of the plants you listed have fibrous roots and will take well to transplanting. Before moving them, I recommend you cut the foliage to half the height. This will allow the plant to put energy into its roots. After that, go ahead and dig it up and move it to the desired location. A narrow trenching shovel should work well for this process. Once planted, water well for two weeks either with rain or the hose. Your plants will likely go into shock and look like they’re dying but should come back next year.
The exception to my recommendations is Butterfly Milkweed (Asclepias tuberosa) or any species with a tap root. They’re trickier to move because if you don’t get the entire root, which often looks like a long carrot, it will likely kill the plant. My recommendation would be to dig out the tap root plants deeper than you did your other species. Go slow and see if the plant will gently come out as you loosen the soil. If it does die, don’t fret. Butterfly milkweed seems to be easier to grow from seed in my experience. Winter is a great time to direct sow in the garden bed.
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