Get moving
Transplanting shrubs can make a huge impact in your garden and now’s the right time to do it
IT SEEMS to be a universal truth that no matter how well you plan your plot, there will always be a plant that’s growing in the wrong place. Of course, the reason is usually down to operator error. Perhaps it’s grown taller than imagined or doesn’t fit a planting scheme. Maybe the plant isn’t happy with the aspect, soil or light.
I’m certainly not immune from making mistakes. Three years ago I planted a purple-leaved elder (Sambucus nigra f. porphyrophylla ‘Eva’) in a bed with a 4fttall, hardy Japanese banana. Since that time the banana has spread to form a 10fthigh, multi-stemmed grove and the poor elder has little room to flaunt its assets.
Fortunately for me, the stretch between late autumn and the end of winter is the perfect time for moving deciduous shrubs that have been planted in the wrong place. Known as transplanting, the process involves some preparation work, and then digging, lifting, moving and replanting the shrub in a more favourable spot. There’s a good reason why my ornamental elder, along with other deciduous varieties, are best moved during their dormant period. Being lifted from the ground results in the loss of roots, but as plants require much less water than during the growing season, they are less likely to suffer from so-called ‘transplant shock’.
Evergreen specimens should be left until early spring. If they are moved in winter, plants often dry out because roots are unable to take up moisture to replace that lost through leaves. However, with the arrival of the growing season, roots are able to take up water from the warming soil, helping plants to establish quickly.
Among the shrubs that can cope with the stress of being moved are weigela, philadelphus, cornus, ribes and deutzia. As a rule, specimens less than five years old should be relatively easy to transplant. Older plants will have a more extensive root system, making them harder to remove and replant.
Magnolias, roses, buddleias, daphnes and berberis are all notoriously fickle. They really don’t like their roots being disturbed and will often fail to re-establish in a new position, even when lavished with aftercare.