Moving a Tree Peony

[Astilbeblu]

Hello... I need to dig up my tree peony this month. Due to the mild weather we have had, the ground is still workable.I plan on potting it in a large pot, and need advice on how to overwinter it. Should I use a certain type of soil? Should I feed it when it is first potted? and with what? Should I wrap the pot? lay it on it's side? I do have access to an unheated shed.

[Linda P]

I'm not sure what the best thing would be to do with it after you dig it up, but I do know that now is the time to transplant tree peonies.
I think trying to mimic the normal outside conditions would be the best for it...
get it potted in as big a pot as you can, water it well, and then put it in the unheated shed.
That's what I would try. I know that the nursery around the corner from me keeps their unsold stock of tree peonies
in an unheated building over the winter. It seems to work well for them.
Good luck with it!
Linda P

[Chris_W]

Hi Dorothy,

Sorry to hear that you need to move

Tree peonies don't grow a root system much larger than the canopy, and when you dig them the soil tends to fall away completely from the roots. Don't worry about this as it doesn't bother them. The pot only needs to be big enough to hold the roots, really no larger. In the winter they like to remain just a little moist, and they definitely don't want to be wet, so use a well-draining soil mixture that doesn't get water logged, water once, then into the unheated shed.

Good luck!

Chris

[Astilbeblu]

Linda and Chris, thank you so much for your input. It's not a very big peony, so it shouldn't take much to get it potted. I'm off to dig!

[thy]

How did it work out ?

I moved one from the garden to a pot years ago... got smaller every year for 2 years and died. It had been in the garden around 3 years I thínk.

Moved mine from the garden to my new garden fall 2008 and for the 2 or 3 years in the garden it went fine... for my old favorite, it declined in 2009 and in 2010 it is mostly ded on the old branches but it have a lot of fat new ones coming up, so in a year or I belive 2 it will be a beauty
It was 3½ foot when I moved it and had been in the garden for 7 plus years