# What's a good time to transplant plants? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 18, 2006, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-a-good-time-to-transplant-plants/373222 "2006-09-18T19:56:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Avarie537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/48db29/32.png) [@Avarie537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Avarie537)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2006, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-a-good-time-to-transplant-plants/373222/1 "2006-09-18T19:56:23Z")
We’ve been in our house for ~2 1/2 years, and have come to really hate the “landscaping” that the former owners put it. We’ve got a row of alternating black-eyed susans and hostas along the east side of the house and a bed with black-eyed susans, some mums, a coreopsis or two, a couple of variegated euonymuses and some gauras in the front. Yeah - it’s as funky as it sounds. I’d really like to move the BES’s to the back of the back yard, along the tree line and the hostas to the west side of the house, which is the shadier side (that side of the house is a lot closer to the neighbor’s house). I’m not sure what we’d do with the other ones. What’s the best time of year to move these plants? I wasn’t able to do much gardening this spring, what with being pregnant and giving birth and all. Would the fall be ok? ---
**Author:** ![Chez\_Guevara](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/aeb1de/32.png) [@Chez\_Guevara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chez_Guevara)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2006, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-a-good-time-to-transplant-plants/373222/2 "2006-09-18T21:30:19Z")
For what it’s worth, I transplant perennials in autumn. This allows the plants to bed down in their new positions and facilitate some root growth prior to winter. I have had very few failures over the years using this stratagem. ---
**Author:** ![Beadalin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/3be4f8/32.png) [@Beadalin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beadalin)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2006, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-a-good-time-to-transplant-plants/373222/3 "2006-09-18T21:39:54Z")
Oooh, you should let **twickster** know about this thread. Autumn works best for lots of transplanting, because the plants are more dormant and thus are better able to settle into their new locations without being shocked. Just don’t try it after the ground freezes (if you’re in a zone where that happens). ---
**Author:** ![pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a9a28c/32.png) [@pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pseudotriton_ruber_ruber)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2006, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-a-good-time-to-transplant-plants/373222/4 "2006-09-18T21:45:17Z")
The Renaissance was a great time to transplant. ---
**Author:** ![wonder9](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c57346/32.png) [@wonder9](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonder9)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2006, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-a-good-time-to-transplant-plants/373222/5 "2006-09-18T22:24:06Z")
Ditto on the fall transplanting. I live in the south and it’s too hot to do anything until September anyway. Things that are transplanted in the fall have time to get aclimatized to their new setting without dealing with the stress of heat and drought or cold and ice. ---
**Author:** ![freckafree](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/freckafree/32/3050_2.png) [@freckafree](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/freckafree)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2006, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-a-good-time-to-transplant-plants/373222/6 "2006-09-19T01:45:19Z")
Fall’s good for most things, and some perennials, like peonies, should only be transplanted in the fall. The trick is to do it in early fall, so the transplants have time to establish some new root growth before they go dormant. The fall-blooming plants, like mums, you’d be better off moving in the spring, just after they’ve broken dormancy. Or if you must move them now, cut flowers off so the plant isn’t stressed by supporting the flowers AND trying to establish new roots. It won’t matter when or where you move the black-eyed susans. You can’t kill them, and since they “re-seed freely” (garden-speak for “take over everything”), you’ll still have them at the original site after you move them! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2006, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-a-good-time-to-transplant-plants/373222/7 "2006-09-19T15:40:59Z")
What everyone has said – fall is fine. I just wanted to add, though – remember to keep them well watered while they get established. Their roots will be growing up until a hard frost.