Question
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Followup To
Question -
I am looking to transplant a large amount of Pachysandra from one section of my yard to another. How would you suggest I go about this and what sort of things do I need to take into account to make sure this goes well. I Live in Northeast Ohio. Thanks.
Answer -
Ahhh Frank, you are in luck. Pachysandra is pretty easy to work with. when you buy it in a store, it usually comes in a tray, maybe 4" by 8", no seperations between plants. with that, you would take it out of the tray, turn it over, root side up, cut it into 1" squares or larger, and stick it into the ground. It is about that easy with Pachy that you are going to transplant. if you are not worried about keeping any in the area it is in now, then use a shovel, and dig out as large a chunk of soil/plant as you can handle (the size of a shovel is perfect), then transplant it to the other area. If you want to keep some in the existing area, and put some in another area, in a sense splitting the plants, then use a smaller shovel, and pull up plants individually, skipping space between where you pull the plants from,(small 2" chunks of plant would work) almost pulling them in a checker board pattern. Fill those holes back in with a little soil from the new location, or any decent soil or black dirt, then those areas will grow back together again. If you dont want any pachy in this area anymore, you will probably need to use a herbicide such as Roundup to get rid of it, other wise it will come back again and again. You will need to walk on the existing pachy, dont worry, its tough, tread lightly, but it should be OK. If you would like, put a board down thats good size, say 2'x4', that will dispurse the preasure on all the plants (or do early in the spring when its just starting to grow, when its smaller). In short, Pahcy is pretty easy to work with, and as you have noticed, it seems to spread pretty well, so go ahead and dig some up, it should be OK. Oh, on the new location, amend the soil with some good black soil and or Peat moss, that will help it to hold moisture better, and the plants should take of even better. till the area up if possible to a 4" or more depth, this will make it easier to put the plants in, as you shouldnt have to dig a very deep hole for each plant. You should almost be able to move the soil around with your hands, stick the chunk in, and move the soil back around it. Hope this helps you out a little bit.

Have fun and Happy gardening.

Mark

Thanks very much for the details. One more question if I may, I have a section yard on an incline under a large tree that cannot sustain grass. The soil is a mixture of topsoil and stone. So you think that pachysandra will grow in such an area?


Answer
Frank, well, Pachy does tolerate shade, so it should do OK in an area such as this. I assume this is not a traffic area. I would maybe try it, if you have access to enough of it, as I think it will do very well. There are a couple others if that doesnt take, snow on the mountain, and lily of the valley, would both work. You could also give the area a bit of height, and put in some ferns, they love the shade as well. First, since you have it, put in the pachy, and let it work. If you would like, to keep the soil down, and to prevent any wash out, you could put down a thin layer of mulch, this would also keep moisture in the ground, so you may not need to water the pachy as much in that area. you could simply get a shreaded mulch (check with your city, around here (Minnesota), the city grinds up trees that they have to take down, and they give the mulch away to citizens that want it, you just need to pick it up, but its free). put a thin layer down, just throw it on top of the pachy, the then run the back of a rake over the top ot the new plants, again, lightly, and that will get the mulch off the newly planted pachy. this could end up being a very beautiful area, with less run off, and could only cost you time.

Good luck.

Mark