Question about moving bulbs - Garden Plants and Gardening Forum

Constance · 05-03-2008, 08:44 AM

I am in the process of re-designing part of my perennial bed, and have 6 pink muhly grass plants ordered to go in the background. Problem being, the spot is full of surprise lilies and daffodils that will have to be moved. They also are in great need of being divided.
They haven't died back yet, however. Will it hurt to go ahead and divide and move them while they still have green tops?

lspichkin · 05-05-2008, 10:22 AM

I think you should be ok to do this as long as you transplant your bulbs with a good amount of their soil attached, so as to disturb their roots as little as possible. If you have to divide them, that would probably be fine as well but it may take some extra recovery time for them to bloom again. A lot of people actually like moving bulbs while they are still green so they can easily see where they are.

Constance · 05-05-2008, 05:11 PM

Thanks for the information.

We went ahead and dug some of them today. They all need to be divided. I'm going to plant some and share the rest with my daughter and a couple of friends.
Every time we dig a clump of surprise lilies, it looks like someone's planted a whole bucket full in one spot. I could plant a whole field of them.
While some of my daffodils have been divided, there are a number of clumps of hybrid bulbs that have been in the ground for 20 years or more without being dug.
We going to stake most of them, to be divided later, but this one area has to be cleaned out now.

05-03-2008, 08:44 AM	#1
Constance Green Gardener Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: southern Illinois Posts: 26	Question about moving bulbs I am in the process of re-designing part of my perennial bed, and have 6 pink muhly grass plants ordered to go in the background. Problem being, the spot is full of surprise lilies and daffodils that will have to be moved. They also are in great need of being divided. They haven't died back yet, however. Will it hurt to go ahead and divide and move them while they still have green tops?

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05-05-2008, 10:22 AM	#2
lspichkin Administrator Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: West Hollywood, CA Posts: 221 Images: 88	I think you should be ok to do this as long as you transplant your bulbs with a good amount of their soil attached, so as to disturb their roots as little as possible. If you have to divide them, that would probably be fine as well but it may take some extra recovery time for them to bloom again. A lot of people actually like moving bulbs while they are still green so they can easily see where they are.

05-05-2008, 05:11 PM	#3
Constance Green Gardener Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: southern Illinois Posts: 26	Thanks for the information. We went ahead and dug some of them today. They all need to be divided. I'm going to plant some and share the rest with my daughter and a couple of friends. Every time we dig a clump of surprise lilies, it looks like someone's planted a whole bucket full in one spot. I could plant a whole field of them. While some of my daffodils have been divided, there are a number of clumps of hybrid bulbs that have been in the ground for 20 years or more without being dug. We going to stake most of them, to be divided later, but this one area has to be cleaned out now.