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when is the best time to reposition garden plants?

I need to move some established plants around in my garden! I am not sure of the best time to do this. I have been told that now is a good time while they are dormant. Can anyone advise please.

Public Comments

1. Where do you live? Are they perennials? If perennials, I would move them only if the root system still has time to re-establish before ground freeze.
2. Best time to move any plant is when it is dormant. If you live in the Northern Hemisphere NOW is the ideal time. The plant will then have about three months to recuperate before the onset of spring. Moving a plant, however, will always knock it back a bit. But generally they will recover especially if you take as much of the root ball as possible with it.
3. Yes now is a great time to move your plants. You were told correctly "while they are dormant". The only thing is you said established plants. You need to be careful not to let the root ball (dirt around the roots) fall apart while you move them. Then after you get them to their new spot you should water them in to remove air pockets around the root system and then give them a good thick coat of mulch .
4. It very much depends on where you live and what type of plant you want to move. I'm assuming you live in the UK, but if you live north of Birmingham Spring will come later in your area, so advice on planting is really dependent on when your soil begins to warm up a bit. Ideally, the best time to transplant is in September or October, when the soil is still fairly warm and the plants can have a few weeks to settle in before it gets really cold - root growth will continue throughout the Autumn and even in winter in sheltered spots or in the South, so plants moved in Autumn will have some chance to get their roots established before frosts and cold rain affect them. The next best time is just as they are beginning to wake up in Spring, ie Feb - April in the South, maybe March - May further North. then they can benefit from the newly-prepared soil, fertilizer etc you will be giving them and grow away fast. Plants moved between now (December) and about the end of Feb. will probably be OK, but the more tender ones may not like being placed in cold wet soil, and anyway planting is really not enjoyable in sodden cold ground. There's no point in gardening in unpleasant conditions unless it's an emergency! If you're moving herbacious perennials, most of them will benefit from being split up into smaller chunks, which can then be replanted either spaced out a bit from each other to make a big clump, or as separate new plants. Throw away the woody centres and just use the vigorous bits at the edge of the clump. If moving a shrub, consider whether it's a suitable size for transplantation - if it's too big to dig up successfully with its root ball reasonably intact, forget it, you'd be better off getting a new one. If you do transplant a mature specimen, prune it rather hard so the plant doesn't have to maintain a lot of top growth the first year whilst its roots are recovering.
5. Shrubs now.The dormancy means they can take the strain as they are not sending food up right through the shrub. Perennials are different and more complex some move in sept/early Oct,others in March/April
6. Between about half five to quarter to six is a good time when theres not much on the telly
7. Most plants can be moved when they are dormant, usually the winter. However, avoid moving them during the coldest part of winter So, October/November is a good period for most regions and March/April also can work well.