I moved a lot of peonies from my old place to the new house. I was in hurry, so I just planted them in the strip along my garden without any soil amendment. Looks like that was a big mistake. Our soil is acidic and too sandy, it badly needs organics. Now they look stressed, and I can see phytophthora damage on one of them, that I never had in old place. I am going to lift them up in fall, add compost, lime and replant. The question is, will they live till fall when they are so unhappy already? Will side-dressing with lime help them for now? Or should I dissolve the lime in water and water the soil? I guess dressing with compost will not help much now, or should I try? They are mulched with woodchips, but I can remove mulch to work with soil, if there is anything I can try now.
Peonies are very resilient, I saved a few last year from dying, this year they did come back. I don’t have a suggestion for you as what to do except maybe to add some compost not lime, sorry, I don’t know anything about lime. I did this year and more bulbs came up in the spring.
I’m not a peony expert by any stretch, but Peonies do not like to be moved in general, and digging them when they are not completely dormant does damage to even the hardiest. I feel like digging them up again a year later is likely rather risky and would simply prolong the shock.
You do not want to crowd the crowns or cause them to be buried deeper by your efforts. If they are used to more organics or a different pH, I would focus on the areas at least a few inches away so that you weren’t threatening them again but were providing what was missing close enough that nature would do its thing. If you have access to the former beds and could bring some of that soil to incorporate in the eventual growth zone, that could intruduce any beneficials and fines that could ease acclimation without disturbance. At the end of the season, remember those tips for new plantings of removing any compromised vegetative growth completely from the site. This coming dormant season is when the roots are going to do most of their settling into the new space, and the following is likely to essentially finalise the process.
Consider setting up a bit of temporary shade at the worst part of the day if the stress you see suggests desication and if you mulch to hold moisture, remember not to crowd the crown. You want to encourage root growth, not root rot. Mulch will turn into compost for next year and earthworms and mycorrhiza will move alot of those nutrients into the rootzone without redisturbing the soil.
I moved a few herbaceous peonies, you don’t dig them up completely, what you do is dig a huge area surrounding the root. Try to retain as much dirt as possible when you move peonies.
If you do dig and replant, divide them into several divisions. Division triggers new growth that will eventually lead to a better plant, whereas replanting the full plant can stunt them.
You might as well top dress the area with compost now. Earthworms will start to shift the compost into the soil below and improve it. But peonies will sulk the first year or two after transplanting no matter what, so it’s probably just a matter of waiting for them to adjust.
Mine bloomed after I moved them. Several of them in fact.
Yesterday I checked the soil. PH is around 6, that is low but not criminal. The amount of organics in that spot is not that bad - I just didn’t remember it correctly - the fall was crazy race against time to move everything before the old house is sold(This is why peonies were moved, and not the full bushes, as I didn’t put them in disclosure and had to leave some for new owners. So yesterday I first removed all damaged shoots and sprayed with Daconil. It is only name I found online on extension site for peonies, though it is not listed directly on the label. Then I removed mulch, fertilized with liquid fertilizer as grows look somewhat pale and thin. Then few hours later sprinkle some garden lime around plants, covered with compost, restored mulch. I know I shouldn’t add fertilizer and lime in the same time, but lime will be released slowly as we having dry weather now. In the worst case I will loose the effect of N in fertilizer, but I can live with it, as low PH prevents nutrients uptake anyway. Will not lift them in fall - no need. In fall I will test soil again, add more lime if needed and fertilize next spring. This is the plan at least, 