Trnasplanting Nerine Bowdenii when in leaf.

Wondering if someone has experience of moving a clump of Nerine when in leaf?
Wonderful NOT Yodel delivery van managed to break the edge of my driveway. He was damned lucky he did not tip his van over as the driveway is above the grass with a drop down steps of about 2ft!
Anyway the edge needs repaired. Right below where the edge has been broken I have a relatively substantial clump of Nerine. I run a very large charity plant sale which ran from the beginning of March until yesterday. It takes up all my time and I never got round to moving the Nerine when not in leaf and they are now. There is no way to get the driveway repaired without doing serious damage to the Nerine and certainly do not want that as these bulbs came from my parents garden god knows how long ago and have survived -18 oC here! so an amazingly tough lot. I would prefer to get the driveway fixed before it deteriorates further but do not want to loose the bulbs. If I have to I will wait for the bulbs to die down but maybe I can carefully lift and transplant now? Hope someone can give me their experience thanks.

 

It should be fine to move your Nerines. Try to lift plenty of soil with them and have a nice big planting hole ready to drop them into. They are coming into full growth so a handful of general fertilizer will keep them happy. It would also be a good time to pull off some of the bulbs to replant elsewhere or pot up.

 

Thanks @Goldenlily26 the clump is substantial and most are growing up out of the ground in a mound if this makes sense so not really in soil at all therefore it will not be possible to move with soil. Will that still be ok? I thought Nerine did best in poor soil but maybe wrong? I try hard not to use any kind of inorganic fertilisers as have a never ending supply or horse manure which I doubt would be a good idea to enrich the soil for Nerines but could be wrong again thinking they do best with very sharp drainage. I do have some bat poo…no idea how to spell the correct term! which a friend gave me, should I use that? As you might have gathered this clump has happily been in situ for about 20 years and flourished with neglect so not something I am very used with dealing with!

 

I've never managed to grow nerines successfully (too wet and/or shady in the places where I've gardened), so I'm jealous, @hailbopp ! I don't think I'd bother with feed. I'd try to move them in their "mound" formation, to a very similar position to the one they're currently in, in full sun, with as good drainage as possible. Try to keep as many roots intact as you can. Then keep them watered while they settle in. They're definitely worth saving! Fingers crossed.

 

It is important not to bury nerine bulbs. They like to be planted almost on the surface so the bulbs get a good baking from the sun. (You know, that big yellow thing in the sky, that seems to appear occasionally!) No worries replanting yours by making a shallow depression to sit them in. If your clump is big I would be inclined to break it into 2-3 pieces before replanting, spread them about to enjoy. They are from the amaryllis family. Dig some grit into the planting area. It helps with flower production to give them some food immediately after flowering while the leaves are growing.
Bat poo would be too strong I think, it would probably be best to mix it with sand or soil before using, also use it sparingly. (Do you mean guano?)

 

Thanks @Liriodendron , yes your lovely neck of the woods is not the driest! I have many relatives who live in Ireland so have a fair idea what you have to contend with. Here is it the cold but also the wet this last 6 months which have been a la monsoon. The farmers around here are in real trouble with waterlogged ground and roots crops rotting in the fields plus too wet to sow Barley. Going to tackle the mound this morning so fingers crossed. There must be over 100 bulbs to deal with so might take a while!

 

Ah yes @Goldenlily26 , knew it was guano but spelling and I are not a match made in heaven. Thanks I have some chicken grit so will mix that into the soil where I will move them too. I don’t have too many optimum places so going to plant some of them in big whisky barrels which have excellent drainage and are a bit sheltered from the worst of our weather. Hope I don’t loose too many.

 

I spent most of my childhood living on Guernsey where Nerine Sarniensis is the local emblem. The story goes a single bulb washed up on a beach many years ago, was planted and eventually adopted as the island's emblem. It is on their coinage and bank notes. It grows almost as a weed there because the climate verges on subtropical. Its main requirements seem to be good drainage, a hot bake and adequate, not excessive water. A bit difficult in GB currently
Good luck with your transplant. I am sure it will be fine.

 

They will look lovely in barrels.

 

I did, wnen my cordyline australis had to go, I had to remove plants from underneath it. So I dug plants out with as much soil around as I could and placed into the bag in the shade. Planted back 2 weeks later. They are fine, placed bulbs half above the soil level.