Move it 6"? lol.

[party_music50]

I've got a mature Striptease, June, and Fascination reversion situated so that June is being mostly hidden on the right and there's bare space on the left. All eyes are up well but no leaves have unfurled. For two years I've been tempted to move that June about 6" to the left. Should I? Would you???!!! LOL!

[downsouthWDE]

I would...LOL...The OCD in me would demand that I do so. I have no set backs when I move whole plants, soil and all. I actually moved a whole June a few weeks ago, after the leaves had opened up. It was too close to a larger hosta that was covering it almost completely. It is doing just fine, and I have no regrets.

[R. Rock]

Hello,

I used to move them a few inches all the time Now it depends on how strong I feel and if I will be remulching an entire area. Nature drops it's beauty in many diferent looks. I am not sure if I now use this as an excuse or if I have grown to admire imperfection as exceptable forms of nature as a whole.

I do like to move plants, trees, etc. very early in the spring. I don't have to babysit them with hoses strung out everywhere. Spring rains give us an extra boost of nitrogen and a dormant plant already has everything it needs.

[kaylyred]

Which is worse, a pretty hosta you can barely see because another hosta is in its way, or a hosta you moved 6" that got set back a bit? (And that's assuming it even does get set back.) I'd move the hosta.

[party_music50]

Thank you! I moved it!

[ViolaAnn]

I would also have moved it. In fact I regularly move many of mine around. Bridgewood Gardens has a page on planning the hosta garden (read the whole thing if you haven't already done so, it's funny). They say, in part,

And after you plant them, stand back and look at them for a while and if they don't look just right, move them. That's what real hosta gardeners do.

http://www.bridgewoodgardens.com/BOOK_PLAN.htm

Ann

[party_music50]

LOL!!! That's the second time I've moved a hosta just inches. The first was 'Morning Light' and it's never been the same since. That was, coincidentally, right around the time I read how difficult Morning Light was supposed to be to grow. LOL!

[ViolaAnn]

I found a big dandelion growing in the middle of my 'Morning Light' this year. Dug it out, but doubt I got all of it. I don't really want to mess around with lifting that plant as it's doing OK getting morning sun on the east side of my house. Another I don't want to mess around with is 'Moonstruck'. I divided it two years ago and it pouted the rest of the season. Didn't look wonderful last year either.

[Noreaster]

Oh man, don't you hate those tough weeds sprouting up in a difficult spot like that. Dandelion roots are just the worst.

I move things constantly. That six inches would have driven me absolutely crazy. It would be nice if everything could be planted perfectly spaced, in perfect compositional harmony with neighboring plants from the beginning, but I find that is seldom the case. Especially considering that sizes listed for any given hosta vary wildly from source to source, growing conditions, etc. I want mine to be close, but not really overlapping. The only bummer with moving things is having to do the whole HVX precaution thing along the way. The only one I will probably never ever move is Thunderbolt. Luckily I think I have it in the perfect spot.

[thy]

MaryAnn, I have several times used a few drops of Round Up with succes

[flowerchild59]

I moved mine around way too often and now that I have all of them in "theme" beds I have that excuse to move them to their "appropriate" beds.
I don't like it when the touch........who else says that??? Is it lucy goose???? I really try to space them the correct distances that they will be at maturity so I don't have to move them at 5 years of age when they are 6 inches too close to their neighbor

[kaylyred]

I found a big dandelion growing in the middle of my 'Morning Light' this year. Dug it out, but doubt I got all of it. I don't really want to mess around with lifting that plant as it's doing OK getting morning sun on the east side of my house. Another I don't want to mess around with is 'Moonstruck'. I divided it two years ago and it pouted the rest of the season. Didn't look wonderful last year either.

Dandelions suck. I found out something interesting while clearing a new bed last weekend, though. I remove grass by hand (if I'm working a smallish area) and I shake the dirt off the clumps I've dug, then use the grass to patch bare areas of my lawn. (It works surprisingly well. Given enough moisture, the grass roots up in its new location quickly.) But anyhow...when I came across a grass clump with a dandelion in it I shook off the dirt, which left the long dandelion tap root dangling well below the other roots. I found that I could grab the root from the bottom and "thread" the leaves right through the clump to remove it.

I bet you could do the same thing with hostas if you had to, and if you didn't mind digging up the plant to get at the dandelion. Not a very practical solution in most cases, and might not work nearly as well in heavy soil as it does with my sandy loam, but I think I'd consider it if the dandelion was really big and thuggish.

[party_music50]

I just thought I'd report back that I am SO happy I finally moved it -- it never skipped a beat.

[kaylyred]

Looks beautiful!

[Noreaster]

Looks perfect!

I think my Liberty needs to move 6" now and I don't think I have the energy to do it. Maybe next year before it unfurls...

[Linda P]

Beautiful pic! It looks like you definitely needed to move it.
Liberty...mine is shoving aside all the neighboring plants this year. I will never dig it up..it's too big,
so if you need to move one, move it soon! I DO like my hostas touching, so that they will cover the ground
everywhere, eliminating much weeding and mulching.

Linda P

[Noreaster]

I'll probably just leave it as is...I just know I'd be happier if it moved by six inches. My little pathway into that part of the garden is there and I have to shove aside the leaves now to get past Liberty. I don't want my hosta to overlap much because my method of slug control is to throw down lettuce leaves everywhere (and spray them with ammonia, when I find the slugs on them. If the hosta becomes too dense a groundcover, I'll lose the slug battle for sure because they will just all hang out under there.

[party_music50]

oh, wow -- thanks for the nice comments!

Noreaster, I keep putting off moving plants and they just keep getting bigger and harder to actually do. If anyone wants about 300 lbs of siberian iris, come see me. lol!

LindaP, I like everything jammed in! and I love mixing perennials to have the gardens constantly changing.

Everything finally turned green here a couple days ago. It's just so nice to see again!