Need to move Iris now...

16 years ago

My daughter and her fiance are living in an older farmhouse and are in the process of remodeling it. There is a very old front porch that will be demolished in the next week. There are 2 large (about 10 sq ft) iris clumps adjacent to this porch that will be destroyed in the process if we don't move them now. I've been doing some searching on this topic, and realize that this time of year is not ideal, but it's now or never. Right now, the plants have about 6 to 12 inches of new growth. These are the rhizome types and the roots are many and very dense.

What should I do to get these moved now, to keep them growing and healthy? Any suggestions are greatly appreciated!

thanks,

Rick

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Comments (4)

daylilyluver
16 years ago
I would dig them up in managable sections with as much soil as i could around them and move them to their new or temporary home. if done well, I think that they'd be ok. You do have to expect that there may be some casualties.
hosenemesis
16 years ago
Irises are pretty tough. They may not all bloom this year, but I imagine they will survive. It sounds like they should be divided anyway.
Renee
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Nancy
16 years ago
I agree with Renee, sounds like they need division anyway. You are going to have so many iris to replant, if you lose any you'll never notice. Iris are very tough & can easily handle division now, you'll just lose bloom.
rhrohde
Original Author
16 years ago
Thanks for the advice. We did move them this weekend. Divided the 2 areas into manageable chunks to move (about 15 or so) and ended up with 6 nice plantings. Tried to keep them in the soil they were already in and planted them like that. So far so good.

Thanks again!