Forced to cut down five 45+ year old Camellias?

16 years ago

I've moved to a new house, with a tiny backyard - merely 30' x 30' => and I am moving a lot of my own plants (not all of which will fit in this new house).

The backyard has these huge ancient Camellias in it - all are at least 12' tall, with 6" diameter trunks = and are just covered with buds. They cast a large shadow, and fill at least 10% of the lot. They are already severely pruned back.

I'm afraid they have got to go. But what to do with them?

It seems such a pity just to cut down such old beautiful plants!

I researched the past GardenWeb messages about moving Camellias (esp. large ones) = not very promising. Seems like large equipment is the best way, and there is no practical way to get that in without ripping down a fence (and possibly a Meyer lemon tree in the way).

I thought about seeing if I could dig up one of the smaller ones by hand to give away - but they are planted very close together - about 2' apart, so their branches are all interlaced in a solid wall.

Makes for an interesting puzzle as to what to do.

Any suggestions on how save these plants?

Anyone in the Bay Area interested in some old Camellias?

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Comments (4)

mrmiddleton
Original Author
16 years ago
It looks like a 4 month regimen of gradual root pruning into a shallow root ball to be moved no later than March is the best guidance I am reading.
longriver
16 years ago
Why not inform ACS? at
barbara@camellias-acs.org
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Embothrium
16 years ago
You probably don't have to remove them since you can cut them down to any height and they will grow back. Since these are slow-growing, re-growth will take years to become large again.

Root-pruning, either once or repeatedly is problematical: you cut the roots back, new roots grow out of the cut ends, then you cut or damage those when you re-prune or dig the plants up...hard to see how this improves on just cutting the roots and digging the plants up all in one go. The point of trying to get a compact, well-branched ball is avoidance of damage to the roots. Repeatedly damaging the roots to try and get this ideal rootball seems counterproductive. And every time the shrub has to regenerate roots it is using energy to do so.
sandy808
16 years ago
I've always had better luck with transplanting anything by just digging it up (with as much rootball intact as possible) and setting it into a nice new home that is well prepared ahead of time. Lots of talking to the plant and some water everyday for a month or so, and most times they do just fine.

No plant likes being moved, and I can't see where chopping at its' roots to root prune it would serve to make it very happy. My opinion is that it is better off making new roots once. I had thought about moving one of my camellias, and a local camellia farm told me to wait until after it bloomed and then to just move it. I changed my mind about moving it when the owner of the nursery said the best thing is to leave it where it is because there is always the possibility of losing it, and it is one that I like a great deal.

I know you are anxious to plant the treasured plants you brought with you, but maybe you should let these camellias bloom before digging them out. You can always remove them later if need be. There might be some that you find you love and can incorporate into your garden plan. (Speaking from past experience, and some regrets).

Sandy