Clearing borders and saving some plants

Hi all

I'm working on renovating our garden which has been rather neglected for some years. I've already been cutting back and taming a lot of overgrown shrubs, and over the winter want to get a handle on one or two of the borders, clearing them, digging over improving the soil and making plans for new planting.

My question is about what to do with some of the existing plants that may be worth saving. There's some decent things - hostas, a couple of peonies, geraniums, a few sedums and hellebores. I know I could try to clear the borders around them, but it feels messier somehow, and less likely to result in properly dug, weed-free and enriched soil.

Will most plants be ok with being lifted at this time of year, stuck in plastic pots and left until spring? Do I need to keep them under cover or water them at all? I don't have much experience of overwintering plants in this way.

Is there anything that definitely shouldn't be lifted?

 

No problem. Dig them up with a decent rootball and put them in plastic pots and fill up the spaces with compost (if you have some, if not then soil from the border.). No real need for any of the ones mentioned to be undercover, just put the pots somewhere where they will not get frozen solid. No need to water if they are outside over winter. In the past I have buried the pots in fallen leaves to keep them frost free, but only because we lived in a really bad frost pocket.

 

Ah ok, that sounds promising! Luckily I have quite the stash of plastic pots.

I'm guessing it would also be ok to divide some of the bigger ones? The geraniums look big enough to make at least 3 or 4 separate plants.

 

You will probably find that they fall to pieces as you dig them out. It is a good way to increase your stock.

 

Isn't the advice when in a new garden to let plants grow for the whole year so that you can see what is there and whether you want those plants to continue. Maybe you have already waited to see what your garden is showing. We don't lift hellebores/geraniums ever and don't grow hostas (too many slugs).

 

We’ve been here two years, and haven’t really touched it, but I’ve kept an eye on it and have a pretty good idea what I want to keep. Not quite sure what I actually want to do in terms of the planting yet but want to reuse what I can!

 

The peonies...tree ones or herbaceous? We have both and leave them and they keep doing their best each year. We don't dig up plants and try to keep them for replanting somewhere next year but then we have been here since 1978 and know our garden. We also have sedums that we allow to do what they want and then cut them back at the end of the season.

 

Hellebores are due to flower in winter/early spring, so if you dig them up now you may lose out on them flowering this coming season.

 

They're all easy enough to lift, divide if suitable, and pot up for winter. If the sedums are the perennial ones [now called Hylotelephium] rather than the little alpine/succulent types, they're really easy to propagate anyway - small bits that break off can be potted in smaller pots.
I do the same as @Palustris re sticking them somewhere that they won't get annihilated by weather. I often just put them in among other planting in borders, especially if there's shrubs for protection. Under my bench is also quite a good spot as they get basic protection, but aren't cosseted, so if you have a table or similar, that will also be fine.
I've moved all the plants you mention in the past @orbitingstar without any problem. Tree peonies could be different from the usual herbaceous ones, as said, but I don't grow those so can't advise with them. As @Sheal says, the hellebores can take a while to establish and flower, so you may not get flowers until the following year.

 

Umm… I have no idea! How do I tell the difference?

 

Tree peonies are considerably larger than the herbaceous ones, as the name suggests - do you have a pic?

 

The sedum is shown in this picture, the one with the pink flowers, alongside one of the peonies - is this the type you mean @fairygirl?

 

Yes - that's the S. spectabile type

 

Tree peonies have a woody stem and herbaceous ones at this time of year are usually reduced to just below the surface buds. Either way you can still move them, as long as you get a decent rootball with them.
The Sedum in the image is the one which used to be called Sedum spectabile which as said will probably fall into pieces.
Hellebores are making their new roots at this time of year, so moving them again with a good rootball should not interfere with flowering next spring. I have moved all the plants mentioned in the past without any losses or loss of flowers.
When you replant the Peonies just make sure that you put them in at about the same level as they were, herbaceous types need cold ripening of the buds to initiate flowering.Tree peonies do not like to have their woody stems buried.
Hardy Geraniums are almost impossible to kill.

 

They never get past knee height so I’m guessing herbaceous type?