Transplanting Mature Rose of Sharons

11 years ago

I've usually hang out on the trees or shrubs forums, but went looking for something specific, and found the right place.

So the ad read Free, Rose of Sharons, must dig. I checked, and there were 5 mature ROS shrubs that needed to be dug out this weekend, or the contractors will be cutting them down on Monday.

Lucky me, digging out, transporting and replanting 5 large shrubs in one weekend.

The 5 are all 5-6 feet tall, look very green and healthy. Located in front of a porch, in an area about 2.3 feet between the porch and walkway. Not a great place for catching water. Decent soil up top, but the bottoms of the rootballs were in clay/rock from the initial construction. Now having dug them out, I was surprised that the leaves were drooping within an hour of their being dug. Is this normal?

I realize this isn't the ideal time to transplant anything, but I'm wondering what the chances of the shrubs doing well with consistent watering, etc. are. Any Hibiscus or ROS specific comments are very welcome.

Thanks!

vince

Comments (3)

beaniebeagle
11 years ago
expect a lot of transplant shock. water often but don't waterlog and drown it
consider cutting back half of the growth
the more of a root ball you can get, the better.
dont expect blooms, but it can be done
wally_1936
11 years ago
If you cut back you can dip the cuttings into a root hormone and pot them up to get more starts as they are fairly easy to start.
farmboy1
Original Author
11 years ago
Thanks for the info. I also posted in the shrubs forum, and got lots of similar useful advice. The 'sharons are doing well despite our not getting any rain in the past 14 days. I've been watering them every other day and have them wrapped with burlap to minimize any sunburn.

vince