Last fall a landscaping project required that I move about 30 irises in a hurry. This spring I am discovering that the moved TB irises are only making it to about 20" in the bud stage, and one that has bloomed is a shrimpy 7" tall. I'm quite sure it is not a mini, or at least wasn't when I moved it, because I had no minis.
It turns out that the soil where they are now trying to grow is mostly wood chips. I had seen wood chips when I made the move, but didn't realize they were the majority of the soil component in that area. The leaves have good color, so at least they don't appear to be in a life-and-death starvation struggle -- but irises can trick you that way.
My eventual goal is to move the irises to new locations and do extensive soil amendments in this area before planting irises there again.
Questions:
1. Would it be a problem to put topsoil in the area while the irises are still trying to grow there? Or is there some other temporary solution for them in their current location? I'm hoping to ID them them before moving them again (my "helper" disconnected the labels from the clumps during landscaping).
2. Should I move them out of the poor soil right away -- or wait until the usual iris transplanting season?
Thanks in advance for your help.
LynnDel