My neighbor has a tree peony I can have. It is just two feet tall. It is just starting to leaf out. The leaves are still wrapped tight. Can I dig it up safely now?

If you need to get it now you can but it'll probably wilt quite a bit and might not bloom this spring. It is easier and safer to move them in the fall or before they break dormancy. Take as big of a root ball as you can to keep the roots as undisturbed as possible and it should not suffer any permanent damage.

No, you cannot move it now. Tree Peonies can be moved in the fall once the plant is dormant (ideally, after Labor Day). Moving it now will severely stress the plant and potentially kill it or retard it's growth such that it will take years to recover. In late August or early September, take a shovel and dig straight down at the outer leaf lines. Several weeks later, take a pitchfork and lever the plant out of the ground using this same margin. Take a water hose and clean off the roots of the plant (this will let you know how big of hole you will have to dig to replant). If any of the plant falls off and it has roots on it, plant it too. Fertilize in the fall, in the spring when new growth starts, and after blooming. It will do great. Been there and done that (with a TP that was at least 50 years old).

I defer to Graycrna4u. I have planted bareroot tree peonies before in the spring and they did fine but have never tried to move one that was already out of dormancy.

Very timely question,...you beat me to it Jennifer. Thanks for the advice @graycrna4u.

Thank you. I'll have to mark it good. It is a jungle over there. I am glad I can bare root it. There are things in that yard I do not want to bring with me.

Well I had to dig it up today. They are going to clear the area very soon. Looking further it appears they cut back the main stem at some point. I cut it back further because it was mangled. But there is new growth coming from that down at the root base.

I potted it up with some really nice soil I mixed up and watered it really well. I have it in a protected area with mostly shade. I will move it into the garage on nights where it is going to dip below 40.

If it does not survive no loss out of my pocket. It was going to get clear cut if I left it.

If you have a choice, moving in fall is best (August-Sept). Be very careful of digging and dig very wide and deep, severing main roots can impact how your plant recovers, the more roots you get the better. Good luck.

You can pot it up until the fall. Remember, tree peonies don't like wet roots and they are cold weather plants. The colder the winter, the better the bloom. I would let it sit outside in the full sun in the pot and see what happens. Don't expect any major growth soon because you have disturbed the plant's cycle. Remember also that growing and nurturing tree peonies takes a long time to see results. You must be patient. In the fall, place it in the ground at a well drained site. Fertilize when planted, once in the spring when new growth starts and after blooming. Use a low nitrogen fertilizer like Neptunes Harvest (called simply Fish Fertilizer at Lowe's and Home Depot). Good luck.

Good, my plan was to keep it potted up until fall. Especially since I am not quite sure where I am going to put it and I want to get it right the first time. I buy Neptune's Harvest by the gallon so I have that around.

Currently the pot is in part sun, I will move it to full sun. I have it in good, well draining soil. It must not be too upset because new growth is already poking though the soil.

It is sad the the neighbors did not know what they had and just hacked it back last year. But they did not plant it and are not gardeners so I can't really be upset with them.

Here are some pics from this evening




It looks off in the pot because I centered the root ball

Seeing new growth is great, but do not let the plant bloom. Cut off bloom buds so the plant can direct it's energy toward new root development.

Ah, thank you! Good suggestion.

A friend pointed out to me what I probably have is an Itoh Peony, NOT a true tree Peony. I did not know the difference. Either way, my specimen continues to look good.

I doubt it is an Itoh as they die back to the ground just like a herbaceous. I rather think it is a tree peony as you thought

Thanks Mary Stella! I'm so confused

Easy to do with peonies. I love them and they do so well up here unless there is 'operator error' as there was last year. Too much water.

JV Dubb, the picture clearly shows a woody stem from a tree peony. Itoh's do not have woody stems. There are three types of peonies: herbaceous (green stems and dies back in the fall) cut to the ground after Labor Day; tree peonies (woody stems and the leaves dies off in the fall but you do not cut back). It will look like a leafless bush or twig in the winter; and Itoh or hybrid peonies (a hybrid between herbaceous and tree peonies). It will have strong green stems but will also die back in the fall and needs to be cut back to within one inch of the ground. Hope this helps clarify. You have a tree peony. It will grow best in well draining soil and in 6b it will need full sunlight. Pick a good spot and be patient.

Thank you so much for clarifying!!

jvdubb, in your first picture where the root was exposed it looked to me that there was some tree peony root growth with the remaining herbaceous nurse root still attached. If the herbaceous root is still viable it can start growing a herbaceous peony; not a good thing for the newly forming tree peony root. You'll want to plant a tree peony much deeper than a herbaceous to keep that from happening. If you have any new growth from the ground and the leaves look different from the tree peony leaves pinch them off as low as you can get, right down to include the eye if possible.