A GROWING CONCERN: Now is the right time to transplant

Published 1:30 am Saturday, February 21, 2026

WITH FEBRUARY’S ARRIVAL, gardeners start to ponder the long list of coming chores.

I’ve had the same question come at me numerous times this past week: Is this the time to transplant?

Now is absolutely the best time to transplant most things, the exception being some perennials like hostas or peonies.

The following six weeks are the best time, each passing day being slightly less advantageous than the one that came before.

As for many of us, we are pruning things that are constantly getting in our way — in the way of our driveway, window, the house’s siding, walkway, playfield, lawn mower, property line, mailbox, deck, patio and in the way of your own body as you move about the yard and garden.

Often, people prune, butcher and commit other heinous crimes upon their plants with sharpened tools and slicing motion solely because they are the wrong plant in these places.

The key to good horticulture is the right plant in the right location, and next week we will begin a several-week series on this concept.

This week, you should fully contemplate the idea that now is the perfect time to transplant.

Make a concerted effort to identify, if any, the plants that need constant pruning because they are always overgrowing their surroundings and decide if they should just be moved.

Why not? Well, one reason may be the tree, bush or shrub is just too big. Another might be the fact that it is not really all that attractive of a plant, especially after being hacked at, and it may require a lot of effort to transplant it.

OK, then don’t. That’s right, don’t, because the chainsaw is a fantastic pruning tool, particularly when used flush with ground level. Backhoes, too, just cut them down or rip them up.

A poorly pruned, incorrectly sized plant is usually offensive in appearance and the required workload needed to control it.

So take it out and plant (transplant) an appropriate plant for that space in its place. But since this is the perfect time to transplant, why not space out fast-growing shrubs, transplant those little potted trees that are quickly outgrowing their location, or move that vine because you had no idea wisteria loves to grow under your roof or into your cedar shake and vinyl siding?

Transplanting is ideal now for a variety of reasons, foremost the weather. Because, as you may have noticed of late, it is cold.

The cold means plants are dormant or semi-dormant and thus will not stress under normal transplanting conditions.

They are not transpiring either, their leaves having been shed months earlier, needles are dormant or semi-dormant. The sun is low, and there’s no searing heat to dehydrate or stress out the plants.

The rain, sleet, drizzle and snow for weeks and months on end are precisely why the earlier you plant/transplant, the better for the plant, because it is watered in and settled that much longer. They root in as well because major root production occurs now; the longer the plant can root in, the better it will take off and grow this coming spring and summer.

So please, think about it carefully. Are you pleased with all your plants? Are they in the right spot in the right size for the area?

The best pruning is by far the right plant in the right spot. Sometimes, perhaps the best thing is to prune it away by moving it away. And don’t forget crying “timber” works as the most efficient and correct pruning for many situations, then capitalize on the weather and plants anew.

Winter is your transplanting time. And do, stay well all!

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Andrew May is a freelance writer and ornamental horticulturist who dreams of having Clallam and Jefferson counties nationally recognized as “Flower Peninsula USA.” Send him questions c/o Peninsula Daily News, P.O. Box 1330, Port Angeles, WA 98362, or email news@peninsuladailynews.com (subject line: Andrew May).