Hello,
I have 3 peony bushes growing together in a small area, close to other shrubs. To ease the crowding I have been thinking of moving the peonies to a part of the yard where there's more room.
Many thanks in advance, Denny
Peonies are NOTORIOUSLY fickle when it comes to dividing/moving/replanting. I've had mixed results as they like a year or so to acclimatize to their new setting. *If it were me*: I'd wait til they got the little bud balls going, then take a huge root ball before moving them and make sure new location gets the same sun/moisture? Read a peonie page about the correct depth.
"Denny" expounded:
I'd leave them alone until late August. Then dig them with a large rootball and move them to a prepared hole. Make sure the growing points aren't any deeper than an inch or so - peonies planted too deeply won't flower. I feed mine with bulb food in the fall, they seem to do well with it.
I've transplanted peony bushes with great success. Dig up the whole plant in the fall and just slice the ball into whatever size seems apropriate and replant where they will get plenty of sun. I've more than quadrupled my peony bed size with this method. BTW I live in Eastern PA.
I've re-read your question and I would say wait till the fall. The plant is quite busy right now trying to produce flowers and the shock is too risky in my opinion.
It doesn't look terribly crowded in the picture, although I like a "full" looking flower bed as opposed to the specimen plant look. A full bed will also cut down on the sun that gets to your weeds and therefore cut down on that awful chore.
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