How to Move Daisy Plants

Daisies are an easy perennial to grow. After their first year, daisy plants begin to spread. This is a splendid feature of the flower, but after three or four years the daisies will begin to crowd out neighboring plants, and the daisy flowers will be smaller. Every three or four years, then, you must divide your daisy plants and move some of them to new locations in your garden.

Difficulty:

Easy

Instructions

things you’ll need:

• Long-handled shovel
• Spading fork
• Knife
• Alcohol
• Peat moss
• Compost

1. Lift and Divide

1. Cut a circle in the garden soil around the daisy plant with a long handled shovel. Placing your foot on the top of the shovel blade, push it down and under the plant. Repeat this action around the circle until the plant has been loosened from the soil. Use a shovel or spading fork to lift the daisy plant and place it on the ground.
2. Shake off the excess dirt from the root system so you can see the size of the plant clearly. Take a sharp knife and divide the daisy into two or more plants, depending on the size of the clump.
3. Carry the divided daisies to their new location. If the soil in their new flowerbed is poor, add peat moss and compost to the dirt, then spread a little all-purpose fertilizer around the relocated plants. Water the daisies immediately, and keep the soil moist for two or three weeks to help the root system become established.

Tips & Warnings

• Daisies will grow almost anywhere, but are at their best in a flowerbed of fertile, well-drained soil where they receive full sun. Just before daisies are ready to bloom, apply a phosphorus fertilizer to increase the size and number of daisy flowers.

• Before cutting the daisy plant with the knife, wipe the blade clean with alcohol; it will kill any bacteria or fungi that may be lingering on the blade from the last time you used it in the garden.