Thursday, May 15, 2008
Several options exist for moving daffodils
John Arbogast
Landscape consultant John Arbogast answers your questions every Thursday. Send questions about your lawn, garden, plants, or insects to:
Dear John
5102 Greenfield St. SW
Roanoke, Va. 24018
Or send an e-mail. Answers will be given only in this column. Please don't send pictures or samples.
Recent columns
Q: I live in Akron, Ohio and need to move my daffodil bulbs (my husband is going to redo the flower garden). It’s Mother’s day weekend and rainy. Many of my bulbs did not bloom. Is it safe to move them?
A: I don’t know the climate and soils in Akron, but yes; it should be safe to deeply dig your daffodil bulbs and move them immediately as soon as the soil is dry enough to work without making muddy clods of soil or slick cut edges. Like all other spring flowering bulbs, daffodils must be able to ripen their green foliage for as long as it takes.
So, even if you don’t know where the daffodils will go permanently, move them to a well-drained garden spot and plant them in a deep, temporary trough in a process called “healing in.” This way, the bulbs and roots can continue to absorb nutrients and water from the soil and maintain the normal process through which foods are produced that will be stored in the bulbs for their next growing cycle. It doesn’t matter that many of your bulbs did not bloom. Normal foliage life is the important thing.
As soon as the daffodil foliage begins to turn yellow, you can choose to either leave the bulbs in their temporary spot or move them to the intended place. Daffodils are the only spring flowering bulb grown here in Roanoke that can be transplanted in the spring or dried and then planted in the fall.
The depth of daffodil bulb planting, both in “healing in” and in permanent transplanting, should be at the usual deep bulb depth for the soil type that you have there in Akron. Here in Roanoke, we plant daffodils so that they are covered by three times the thickness of the bulb.
Q: I live in a house in Richmond with a small front yard. The yard is rather flat but has a grassy slope down to the sidewalk and the street. Since I’ve found it difficult to mow this slope, I decided to plant Winter Jasmines to cover it. I started last fall by watering and then killing the grass and weeds on the slope by measuring and then spraying Roundup. Some grass and weeds came back during the fall and winter. Now, I have not planted the Winter Jasmine on the slope. The only time I am able to work on my yard projects is the weekend and we have had several months of rainy weekends. We need the rain so I am not complaining however it has been frustrating not having any warm dry days to clear the weeds and grass. I'd like your advice on what to do regarding this project. Hopefully next weekend is forecasted to be warm and dry and I can put down the Roundup.
A: I would proceed with this project as soon as your Richmond weather is warm and dry enough to effectively spray and kill the grass and weeds on your slope. Warm weather and sufficient prior moisture should help the leaves to be killed absorb the Roundup so their roots will die.
Look on the Roundup label to see how many days must be left between the chemical application and safe planting.
Plant your Winter Jasmines as soon as possible on your slope. Mulch them with a 2 to 2 ½ inch depth of shredded organic mulch. Don’t use nugget mulch on a slope. After-planting care will be critical for the remainder of the growing season, especially if the weather has turned hot when planting is done. Set up soaker hose(s) on your slope and turn them on for a reasonably long time of gentle watering once per dry week. For each week’s watering, if water seems to run off down your slope after awhile, break up the long watering time into 2 or 3 shorter times with 15 to 30 minute intermissions. Apply a liquid fertilizer once to the new Winter Jasmines shortly after planting.
Q: Should Flowering Dogwoods be planted in cool shade or in sunny spots for better health?
A: Flowering Dogwoods should be planted in sunny spots with ample moisture in the soil and good air circulation from not being crowded by other plantings. The pathogen that is killing Flowering Dogwoods thrives in cool, humid environments that can be enhanced by crowding from neighboring plants.
