Moving Things Around, Little Question about roots

Hi,

I'm doing a little shifting in my garden due to a new puppy whom likes to chew. I've read so much about poisonous plants and I won't feel comfortable until she's in a safe environment. From what I understand it's unlikely that she would actually chew and swallow a poisonous plant (they taste bad and are avoided) but better to be safe right?

Anyway, here's my question: is there some way to minimize the root damage when digging up existing plants? I'm as careful as possible, but I seem to be breaking off a lot of roots. :( Is there a product or furtilizer that can help repair this damage and keep my plant healthy? I'm going to be so sad if they die. Of particular note, I swapped a lily with a small camellia and the camellia came up with barely any roots. I'm sure they just all snapped off unless the root ball is only typically small?

Thanks for any help! Christina

You're such a good puppy mama! I never went to those lengths with new puppies but I have spent a lot on assorted barriers. I've found if there's lots of other interesting things to do in the yard (a digging area and toys) they aren't really all that interested in the plants.

Thanks for the vote of confidence. She's a sweet girl and worth any inconvenience in the garden.

Different plants will transplant with variable degrees of success. Some don't give a hoot if they are moved and others will croak if a shovel is stuck in the dirt next to them.

This is a great time of year to find out. If you are going to move plants, do so within the next month...they'll thank you for it. Make sure that you water well for the next 6 to 8 weeks while the roots are repairing themselves...there's nothing that I know of that you can do as far as adding substances to the ground or water though.

You don't want to fertilize. This promotes top growth and you need to keep it at a minimum this season...the plant needs to grow roots this year. Fertilizer is just like running a man over with a truck and then feeding him a steak dinner....it's impossible for him to eat...and he doesn't need it.

Just remember to water and dig a $10 hole for a $2 plant.

I'm starting to see this, if how easy they pop out is any indication. My day lilies pop out like they're going to disneyland and others grab on for dear life!

Thanks for the info on watering and furtilizer. I probably would have furtilized, so that was good advice. Is that true for potted transplants too or just when there's a suspected root trauma?

pop out like they're going to disney land!?
Oh my, laughing so hard! Wonderful analogy. I need to use it.
Good luck with the transplants!

Anything that is transplanted needs a rest period before putting out new top growth. Give the roots a chance to settle in and regrow. The top of the plant is being supported by the roots, and if you remove some of them, it's harder for the remaining roots to nourish the plant.

It may look like your plants are just sitting there for awhile...but that's just because it's all happening underground.

By the way, daylilies are edible...even for humans.

Heavenly, glad you liked my analogy. We just drove up to Disneyland for the day a few weeks ago, so I guess it was on my mind! They sure do come out easily though - it's great!

Melody, thanks for the advice. I'll do as you suggest. I just read that they were edible too (in an article about using flowers in salads)! It's so confusing because I've seen them listed on the poisonous list, and my vet also said the worst things for dogs in your garden are lillies. Maybe it was a different kind of lily that she was referring to?

Once I got it in my mind that they had to go, I was happy with the decision regardless. I decided after the fact that I like mass plantings of the same plant, and my day lillies were sporadically sprinkled all over which wasn't as pretty. There have been other plants that covered them almost completely (gazanias) so they looked scraggly by themselves. Now they're all together in one cozy bed so I'm hoping they'll all survive and give a nice display once they bloom again. I think there are about a dozen or so. It will be a surprise to see the colors, because I couldn't remember what they were from when they bloomed last year. If this is successful I'll post a photo or two. :)

I think there was a list of poisonous plants posted long ago-maybe a search? Onions and chocolate are toxic to dogs, so I don't use cocoa bean mulch (sigh-love that smell). I found out that iris were toxic to dogs--Moka loved to pull off leaves and run. She didn't get sick, but I learned to get other stuff for her to tear up in the yard.
The bunnies ate my new hellebore-listed as very toxic and I haven't seen any sick bunnies around.
Good luck with the pup.

Right now we keep her in the dog run when we can't supervise her, so she's safe regardless of the dreaded plants. She does the pull and run thing like your Moka though, so I'm just being cautious. I've researched all the lists for poisonous plants which unfortunately give really conflicting advice (figures!). "Lola" is worth the extra trouble however. :-)