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I have a few perennials that are struggling and just hanging on with the extreme heat this summer. I have decided to move them to a more suitable spot. My question is, would fall be an appropriate time to move them?
I have usually done this type of garden chore in the spring. They are Heucheras, and I know the roots are quite shallow and fragile. thanks for any advice.
I think if you can keep them alive through the hottest part of the current summer, fall 2012 sounds like your moment. Right now it is over 100 F every day where I live. A bad time for outdoor perennial gardening! But where you live, once daytime temps get pleasant and it is still 8-12 weeks away from hard frost, get out your spade and make your move!
Yes, Fall is great for planting perennials. We live in zone 3 and I plant them in the fall all the time. One year I even planted a sum and substance Hosta in frozen ground and it lived! Don't recommend that though, but it was either that or let it die.
Well, you have such a short spring and summer that you'd better plant some in the fall or you'll never have a chance to plant at all! When I was in z. 6 fall was much better time; it seems like a better plan in z. 8 too. Basically, fall seems like a better time than spring or summer (depending on what your summer is like) for the reasons outlined in the article. Thanks for your comment.
Thank you for the replies. It was 106°F today... been hot for the entire month of July... I am spending extra time to baby these Heuchs, and I believe I'll take your cue, and move them when the temps subside.
You might try riggin up a little shade for them until you can move them. Anything that can let light through but cuts the intensity. I've used old sheets and also heavy netting, held up with those wire plant supports.
Excellent point! We don't have shade here in TX. (We do, but it's way off in the far corners of the parking lots, and 5 cars are all trying to park under one struggling seedling, very funny.)
I'm in Nebraska. We get lots of hot, cold & storms of all kinds. Maybe you were thinkin I'm in New England? This year has been a scorching hot dry summer.
No, seriously, I knew you were in Nebraska! I (like an idiot) thought zone 5 was always cooler than zone 6. I guess I'm wrong again. Not at all unusual these days.
