If it plant a bunch of perennials in one area, how hard is it to change it?

Question

for example if i plant a bunch of astilbe or candytuft or alyssum or shasta daisy, and then decide I just want to totally change everthing, how hard is it to do this?
how do you do it?

also are most flowering perenials such as: Astilbe, Ajuga, Agastache, Artemisia, Aster, Baptisia, Bleeding Heart, Blue Star Creeper, Candy Tuft, Canna, Daylily, Coneflower, Dianthus, Cana, etc. etc.
Are these mostly "herbacious " and grow from rhizomes and die back to the ground every winter. Are most "perennials" (I know this includes a lot of things technically) what gardeners refer to as like this?

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ALSO, IS IT POSSIBLE TO PLANT THESE PERENNIALS IN BETWEEN GROUND COVER SUCH AS VINCA ?

Answer 1

Perennials are usually easily moved and should be lifted and divided every few years anyway. Perennials are usually divided and planted in autumn. Just water the bed well the night before if drainage good and dig up with a spade the next day and replant where you want them, try not to let the roots dry out plant immediately if possible.

Answer 2

During the Spring when the ground is warming and moist, but not wet, you can move your plants around a fair bit. They shouldn't complain too much as long as you are careful with them and let them grow-on eventually.

I'd use a border fork for the larger clumps and a small hand fork for the little delicate ones. Don't bury the crown, but do make sure you bury all of the root system. Some, like bearded Irises like their rhizomes on the surface of the soil, but this is an exception.

Best idea is to dig over the area you want to plant in. Enrich it with some compost etc and add anything needed to improve drainage if necessary, like grit or sharp sand.
Then once the are is prepared, lay you plants out on the surface of the soil in a pattern that think will work. Then when you're happy plant them.
Pay attention to their final heights. If a plant is tall you put it towards the back, if it's short you put it to the front etc.

Why not visit your local library, or a friend with a few good books, and borrow a couple of books on planning herbaceous beds and borders. Most good books have cultivation tips included. For instance "The Border Book" by Anna Pavord is a good beginners guide and can often be found second-hand.

Look up you plants in a good encyclopedia too and check out their growing requirements and frost hardiness.

Top tip: Read, read, read! Read everything on plants you can get your hands on.

Hope you have every success and a beautiful garden this summer.

Answer 3

It is usually not too hard to dig them up. Get a good shovel, preferably one with a serrated edge and a fiberglass handle to use. The ajuga would be good as a ground cover. The rule is the bigger the plant, the harder to dig up. I have some varigated ginger that is about 6-7 ft tall and is going to be a little hard to dig up. But plants that are only a foot or 2 tall would be easy. I know people who've moved their plants 2-3 times before they decided where they wanted them.

Answer 4

If it blooms in the spring, dig it up after it blooms and move it to it's new home. If it blooms in the fall, dig it up and move it in the spring. If the plants are still small there should be no problem. If the plants has been there for several years you may need to dig them up and divide them into smaller portions before re planting. It's really quite easy to do, the hard part is deciding where to re plant. If you don't have room for them, see if maybe neighbors might want them. Do your best not to just throw them away.

Answer 5

Hosta. There are several to choose from and they do get a tall slender purple flower about mid-summer.

Answer 6

don't move them in the growing season, late autum or early spring when the frosts have gone