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tlat1270

too late to transplant?

TLAT1270
13 years ago

i want to transplant a blue hydrangea from my son's yard to mine. is it too late? the bush is 3ft-4ft wide 4ft tall.

several years old I assume. if its ok what do I need to do to get this thing moved? thanks in advance

Comments (5)

  • orchidacea
    13 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    wow, that's a big plant to move around..haha...

    seriously, if you want to transplant, do that now...

    this is what i do with major tansplants like yours..

    watch the weather...

    mother of nature is your best friend here - work with her schedule..

    pick the day of your transplant with moderate temps...

    the ideal setting is temps in the mid 60s - low 70s..

    cloudy skies, no hot blazing sun...

    and the day or two after the transplant, if nature decides to sprinkle your plants, even better...

    so watch the weather..

    I have seen landscapers, homeowners have major transplants under 90/100 degree weather - crazy if you ask me - too hard for the poor humans, even harder for the plant..

    ...

    so you check the weather schedule 0 try the best to work around it..

    then water the plant you want to move pretty heavily the day before the move - prefer you let the plant 24 hrs or so to drink up...so it is fully hydrated and happy happy...Hyrangeas LOVE water...and it Needs a lot of water to thrive..

    then the soil prep, the hole prep for the new location should be ready - hydrangeas like well drained soil, so you get clay, you need to amend the soil with new soil...dont mix sand into the clay soil or you will end up with a cement block down there...

    dig out the big plant out of its old home...a hydrangea this big could be a bear to deal with - the root system will be extensive, and the root ball will be very heavy..so you need someone (more than one likely) to help you

    stick the plant in the new hole with a layer - mayber 6 inches of new amended soil if needed at the bottom of the hole...

    backfill the hole..

    water at the base of the plant thoroughly..

    skip the fertilizer stuff for now..

    let the plant to settle..

    you need to water the plant regularly for at least 8 weeks..

    i would do twice a week thorough watering..

    the plant will tell you when..

    I dont know what type of hydrangeas you are moving

    but i presume most will become droopy - leaves, blooms - when it needs water

    so give it water if needed...

    big transplants are stressful to the plants..

    so normally I would do a big one like that when the plants are dormant -

    but the drawback to do that during the cold months is the soil condition..

    this past winter been absolutely crazy in the NE - i still have frozen soil spots in second week of April..

    you can't really do much work with frozen soil..

    ,.,.

    so if you want to do that

    do it now..before the weather gets hot..

    i really discourage any of my clients to do major transplants when the temps get above 80..

    one of my clients moved here crimsom pygmy red barberry (3X3) last June - I told her - don't...the weather was too hot...(85 at the time)...she couldn't wait...and she dug the whole thing out stick it to a new local under full day hot sun...this poor pygmy - one of the toughest plants i grow and know of - lost 80% of its leaves in a matter of a week...what a sad sight...I told the client to water, water and water the heck of the plant...it took this sucker 3 mos to bounce back...

    so do that when the temps are good for the plants and the humans involved.

    good luck.

  • remontant
    13 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    I received a 3-year old Blauer Prinz for Mother's Day. It was very stressed from its mail-order journey from Oregon, so I just repotted it into a larger container to recover and wait for fall planting. Was that a dumb move? Should I just have put it out in its future home? (Our temps have been moderate this week--70s and 80s.)

  • orchidacea
    13 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    the stress from the mailorder trip should be very short-lived...i have seen those before, usually a day or two to recover, all teh wilts will be gone...as for transplant, no worry, hydrangeas are tough cookies, i like to repeat that...so, if the weather is nice and moderate, go ahead and move the plant into the spot...water it well, give it some shade from the hot sun (you have to think creative if you can't get some good natural shade)...it will do just fine...TN gets hot fairly quickly, so the time window for a good transplant is closing...i am not saying doing a transplant at 90F will kill the plant, just that if you can, 70-80 is the best (for both the humans and the plant)...haha..the most stressful factor for a hydrangea is - thirst and hot sun...you take care of these two, it goes a long way to make your plant real happy..

  • remontant
    13 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Many thanks, Orchidacea! It's supposed to be 89 deg. tomorrow!!

  • TLAT1270
    Original Author
    13 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    thanks for the info.