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lilies
Mark Goodwin
Posts: 6
in Plants
Due to a serious leg injury, I was unable to lift and devide my lily bulbs at the end of last season.
I want to move some from one area of the garden to a large border where I have most of the lilies planted, and at the same time top up the soil (its a new border i made this time last year, and the soil has sunk a little).
Am I to late to lift and devide and move the lily bulbs?
Any help would be appreciated.
Mark
0
Posts
I would do it in the early spring, before the bulbs have started into growth.
I wouldn't do it now while the ground is so cold and wet.
Sorry to hear about your leg - hope you've fully recovered. I fractured my wrist last autumn - now, like you I'm behind with lots of gardening jobs I had planned to do - but hopefully I'll catch up in the spring
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
AW Dove says, it is fine to do it in the early Spring - the new bits won't appreciate being put into cold soil, but will run away when things are warmer - well, would you?
Hope the leg improves, and that you can get on with the gardening in due course.
If your lilies have been in situ for some time, which is why you want to split them, I would wait until the autumn when they have finished flowering as I think established bulbs will already be making growth. It might be worth doing an exploratory "furtle" around some bulbs growing around the edge of the clump to check. If there is no growth, then it would be Ok to lift, split and replant.
I would be in agreement with Joyce Goldenlily.
If possible I'd leave them as they are for now, until they've flowered and the leaves are going over. September time perhaps when the soil is still warm but whenever their leaves have started to turn yellow whatever month that may be.
The leg is much better now, thankyou.
I have around various 200 lilies in the the border and other parts of the garden, maybe 2/3 are 2-3 seasons old, the rest is what I lifted and potted over winter 2013/2014 in the neighbours greenhouse then planted out in march last year.
I was hoping to do the same at the end of last season but the leg prevented it.
I want to bring all the lilies together in one border this year, the border is increasing in size to around 18m x 2m.
I think I will just have a dig around some like Joyce has suggested and if Im lucky and no growth then I will just divide and replanted straight away.
Thanks for the tips.
i have just watched James Wong talking about lillies on the great garden revival program its probably still available on iplayer i thought one of the growers said they sent out bulbs at the en of Feb
f there perrenial lilies then you can leave the bulbs in the ground with a light mulch over the top to keep them protected from frost
Other than that , a good granular fertiliser feed when the bulb shoots appear and they should not give you any real problems
Sorry, thats not really answered your question . But it's still something to take in to consideration with Lilly bulbs
The bulbs sent out in early Spring have been lifted,tored in chillers the previous autumn and have not come into growth but bulbs which have overwintered will come into growth naturally much earlier. I have found daffodil bulbs coming into growth in the open garden in Nov.(Accidentally dug up when tidying up in the autumn.)