Transplanting Violets

Here in central Virginia we have several species of native violets. These beautiful little plants flower early in the year, bringing a touch of color and cheer in the early spring. They spring up almost anywhere that isn’t treated with lawn chemicals and are surprisingly hardy for such delicate-looking plants. They can form a dense ground cover as the photos top and bottom show. And they accept a wide variety of conditions. The photo below shows them growing in a deep bed of gravel parking lot in dry full sun conditions.

Here they are growing along a cool, moist and shady stream bank:

I am converting a section of our lawn to a meadow and pollinator garden. It’s now a mix of grass, non-native weeds, and a few native plants, including hundreds of violets. Most of this will have to come out to allow the new meadow plants to flourish. Black-eyed Susans, native to our area, come up every year and they will stay. I thought it would be impossible to keep the violets without leaving weeds that would ruin the meadow planting.

Here’s how I did it:

The photo above shows the violets mixed in with lawn grass and weeds.

And the photo below shows them dug up (basically chopped out of the ground) using my triangular spade\trowel.

Here the violets are on the potting table ready to be weeded and cleaned up. I try to get all the weeds and as much of the dirt (to get rid of weed seeds) as possible off of the roots.

The violets below are weeded, cleaned and ready to pot or plant directly in the ground.

I favor potting them for a while but planting directly in the ground works fine. I use bagged topsoil from the home improvement store with no additives or fertilizer. It’s convenient for me and everything I’ve planted in it did well. Garden soil would probably work just as well. I’ve used a mixture of 1/3 garden soil, 1/3 sand (buy washed sand so it doesn’t have salt in it), and 1/3 peat moss. That worked too.

Here are the violets the day after potting:

I have about ten pots so far and I’ll do as many more as I can find time for. There are lots of spots around our yard where they will fit in. And unlike most of the other natives I’ve planted, they are free!

Adding native plants to our yard has been a wonderful experience for me. Identifying and encouraging the natives already here is very rewarding. In closing, I should say that if you choose to transplant natives be very careful before getting started. Remember that I’m transplanting a plentiful and widespread plant that is growing on my property. Transplanting can be very damaging if not done responsibly.

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