Is it safe to replant peony?

Question

I've heard it might be tricky. Is it true? What is the best way to that? It's this year's plant. No flowers yet.

Rustic & Refined · Answer

It can be tricky simply because peonies (in order to bloom) like to planted at a certain level. If they're planted too deep all you will get is leaves and no flowers. Spring is the best time or after the blooms have faded. I would check a peony website that gives more detail on how deep to plant or try and keep the level of soil the same when you transplant. I also cannot guarantee if you transplant now that it will re-bloom...I always wait til summer or fall to move a lot of my plants that way I get the blooms first.

The Garden Frog with C Renee · Answer

Rustic has great points. peonies do not like to be moved and you will set them back a year. peonies like sun and they need at least a year to get rooted in the ground. Almost any flowering plant should not be moved or pruned until after it flowers. 
Is there a reason why you want to move it already? If it does not get 8 hours of sun then it is not going to be a prolific bloomer so maybe you should move it now so you can wait for blooms next year or year after. In my experience it will take at least 3 years for the plant to reach its potential. I have a start from a peony that is at least 50 years old that was my mother in law's whom I never got the pleasure of meeting (and so it is special and last year it had one gorgeous bloom). This peony has moved across country and in 10 years had been moved 3 times- and now it has finally forming more than 1 bloom! 
So patience is something you have to have in gardening-
Good luck and Happy gardening!

Sensible Gardening and Living · Answer

In general Peonies are best moved when they are small. Once large they have huge root systems that are almost impossible to dig up by hand without damage. Large peonies are better divided and replanted as smaller sections.

Pam Park · Answer

Good infor, thank you all

Lisa · Answer

Everything everyone has said so far is absolutely true.  But in true Nature's fashion, I have a story that completely differs.  One of the seasonal campers that is at the campground where I do all of the landscaping dug up and gave me one of the peonies on her new site.  I didn't have time to deal with it and set it under a tree, along with some hostas.  At the end of the season, I munched it.  I did nothing with it for a full year and a half.  It had leaves come up, so I knew I hadn't killed it.  Yet.  The next spring, I dug a hole in my sunny garden bed, added water, plopped the peony into the hole and filled it in with soil.  The peony bloomed slightly that year, and has bloomed profusely every year since.  It's a single, not a double.  I don't know if that has anything to do with surviving my neglect (plopped on the ground in the middle of a bunch of hostas, in the shade, receiving nothing but rainwater and mulch for a year and a half), but every time I see that peony, I am reminded that all things are possible.

Nancy Hatcher · Answer

Thank goodness my peonies did not know they were supposed to be fussy about being divided and replanted. I don't even know when I did it but you would never know that I moved them. They bloomed that year and never even showed any droop or loss of leaf!

Connie B · Answer

I must be lucky, too! My sister-in-law gave me 3 nice white ones and a neighbor gave me a pink one. I planted them about a month ago and they all have buds on them.

Connie B · Answer

True, true, true. We downsized to a home w/ only a few boxwoods and 2 king maples in yard. Have planted over 100 trees/shrubs since last summer and I did lose 6 plants. We had a hard winter. Peonies are fine. You just never know, but I'll not dwell on it....just keep planting!!

Loretta · Answer

I divided one big one into 5 small ones, they did great blooming this spring. I also let the bloom dry on the plant and then took it off and crushed it in my hand and dropped it on the ground in my bed and had sprouts coming up this spring. Going to give them a year or two before transplanting them.

Douglas Hunt · Answer

If you're going to do it by the books, the time to move peonies is early fall. It is crucial they not be planted too deep: the 'eyes' should be just at soil level.

Sarah · Answer

I replanted my peonies this spring and you'd never know it, they're growing like crazy! They had been in the same spot 5 years. I've replanted peonies several times and always worry because I've heard they're supposed to be difficult to move but I've never lost one yet, the operative word being 'yet', LOL. The only real rule is not to plant them too deep.

Donna Shipley · Answer

I moved two of them last fall. One is doing great, but I dropped the other on getting it out of its pot and I think I damaged and lost it. It did not come up this Spring.

Bonnie S · Answer

We have been able to just pull up some roots from the main plant and stick them in the ground...(some have been by accident)...They are all growing--have done this about 20 times...this will be the 3 yr for most of them.  We have all sand so they grow slowly...but doing fine.

Claudia · Answer

I transplanted my 'Shirley Temple' into a sunnier location last Fall, raised it slightly above soil level, and it is now loaded with buds.  Can't wait to see it in bloom.

Kelly S · Answer

I will have to move mine, our dog likes to pee on it and some of the stalks aren't doing so well. Something to add to the front of the house. I'm glad to know about moving them. I was afraid that I just might loose it all together.

Jean DeSavage · Answer

I live in a mobile home park and in November the home next to mine had a major plumbing problem, the main line from the house to the street had to be replaced. I had only about one hour to move my peony, two rhododendrums, a wigelia and several ornamental grasses. I got the peony replanted, in a sunnier spot, so I hope it will be happier there. The rhody, wigelia and grasses were put in a tub with soil and watered and put in my shed. Two days later it started snowing and we didn't get an respite until this spring.

I really figured everything was going to be dead! On Easter it was lovely out, so I decided to putter around in the yard, I pulled the tub out and was surprised and delighted to see that not only did the rhody's survive with just a bit of soil around the roots, they were budded! The wigelia seems to be fine too. I hope the grasses will be.

My peony was just a tiny little thing, barely having anything above ground when I transplanted it in November. On May 1st I noticed that I have shoots starting to come up where the peony had been planted. It survived! I'm so excited, this is just my third year having any kind of garden.

Lynne · Answer

I've always heard that they are super fussy for replanting etc. My experience is it depends upon the individual plant, some can take a royal beating, others are just too sensitive. I've experienced both. Take a chance and see. But just a note, I have black thumbs.... but maybe I wouldn't move one after it's started its' season.

Terresa K · Answer

I've replanted mine with no problems.

Suzette Trimmer · Answer

I have dug up transplanted just about every known perennial and peonies always have shown that they are in fact far hardier then previously thought. I had dug up 15 year old clumps of huge peony dividend it many times over, I even went several weeks between transplants, quite a few of them remained sitting in transplant solution for that time and still thrived afterwards stuck in ground for winter and this morning already re dug up to final resting spot up on sunny hill. I know using root hormone always helps this go better.

Mila Myk · Answer

Thank you for all your helpful answers and replanting stories! Much appreciated!
xx

Carolyn Hoxton · Answer

I just bought three peonies at Menards, hope it isn't too late to plant them, is it? Thanks, appreciate any tips

Carolyn Hoxton · Answer

Thanks , I planted them yesterday, and gave them water last night and again this morning. I will keep them watered

Carolyn Hoxton · Answer

Thanks for the tip.

Retha cook · Answer

I have moved my peonies to 3 different homes. They have traveled thousands of  miles in a bucket. Don't rub the dirt line off and be sure to plant it to the same level in your new location.

Betsy · Answer

Hi Mila: I have dozens of peonies in my yard that I moved from my mom's yard and they are doing quite well. Plant them about 3 or 4 feet apart as they grow large. One thing to remember is that the tuber (the thing that looks like a small sweet potato) needs to level with the ground or slightly below, depending on your climate. It's best to do the moving in the spring when the soil is warm so that the roots can have a chance to grow and get settled. The dirt should be loose, and not compacted. And, they love the sun :) And, water. Water from the bottom so that you don't get white mildew on the leaves, preferably in the morning, but not in the hot sun. Some fertilizer is good, I use tulip fertilizer. Here's a good article that may help:

What and When to Feed Peonies (weekand.com)

Good luck

What and When to Feed Peonies (weekand.com)

Good luck

Janice · Answer

Peonies when planted in just the right spot can live for years and years and are such a bright spot in your landscape. Happy that you got so much good advice.

Is it safe to replant peony?

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Is it safe to replant peony?

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