Moving hostas and irises

[byrstn]

I live in northeast TN. It's May and in 2 weeks I'll be moving across town. I want to take my hostas and irises to the new places. Any advice? BTW, the irises are from my childhood home. I just CAN'T hocked: leave them. Any help would be appreciated.

Betty

[IntrepidMeredith]

Hostas are pretty tough and should be easy to move. Dig them up not more than two days before the move. Keep plenty of their original soil around the roots (maybe buy a couple bags of top soil so you can fill the holes back in for the new homeowners), and put the plants into some nursery containers, or, of you don't have any of those, then putting 2-3 plants in a plastic grocery bag will work OK too. Before the move you want to keep the soil around the roots moist, but you don't want to blast the plants with water causing the soil to fall away from the roots. Keep the plants in the shade/cool area until you move them. Plant them in their new home at the same depth they were before and water well. They may be a bit droopy before you replant them and for a couple of days afterwards, but they should perk back up soon.

The irises may be a bit more resentful of moving at this time. If they are already flowering, you'll probably want to cut back all the flower stalks. Then dig them up with plenty of soil, keep them moist and prevent that soil from breaking up before replanting them. I think you'll be OK. If it were the end of the season, I'd also suggest cutting back the leaves to 4-6 inches, but if you do it now, I'm not sure if the plant will send up new leaves this year or not (an iris expert I am not). The main thing will be to keep the period of time between digging up and replanting as short as possible. As with the hostas, replant them at the same depth an keep them properly watered.

I know how hectic moving day can be. Would it be possible to speak to the previous owners of the new home or the new owners of the current home and see if you might be able to move the plants a few days to a week before or after the scheduled moving day? I've done that before. In fact, the new owners of our old place appreciated it because they had questions about some of the plants I was leaving behind! Good luck!

[HostaNut]

I realize you've already moved but I hope you okayed the plant removal with the new owners. If I bought a house and found that the owners had gutted the garden before I moved in I'd have a fit and might even consider legal action.
I can see taking divisions from the hostas and a few iris's but to take the entire plant would surely mess up the landscaping of the yard.