Azaleas are fairly shallow rooted, and should be fine if they are cared for after transplanting. Get as much of the roots as possible, have your new site dug beforehand, get the plant into the new location immediately, mulch well, and keep it watered until it recovers. Planting in a shady location or providing some shade with an umbrella or supported tarp might help with moisture loss. Don't fertilize the plants until next year. I'd move anything you want to save in advance. Construction crews often know nothing about transplanting with the goal of saving the shrubs, and will handle them roughly. If you want them to live, do it yourself or hire someone who knows what they're doing. Construction is hard on any plants whose root systems will be compacted by heavy equipment, or whose bark is damaged by careless workers. This includes trees. If you have trees that you want to keep long term, stake off the areas around the trees' root zones with tape if possible. This can extend to the dripline (outer edge of the canopy) and beyond. If not possible, have the builder put something down to drive heavy equipment over to minimize compaction and spread the load. You may not see it right away, but damage from severe compaction can affect the health of trees or kill them completely. Put something around tree trunks to keep workers from getting too close with equipment and damaging the bark, which can kill the tree in time.

personally i wouldnt rely on the radio for opinions on anything.. the discussion may be a starting point.. but you are then left to do your own research .... which you did by coming here ... go figure .... i am trying to expand my own knowledge here.. so i am going to speculate on this.. please correct anything that you might think is wrong ... there are 3 things in my world.. that trigger the thought of transplant... in no particular order.. all 3 leap to mind.. in an effort to reduce plant stress ... first.. declination of the sun ... as winter comes.. the sun gets lower.. putting less stress on the plant... so we transplant up here in spring or fall .... so the plant can grow some roots before the heat of next summer ... the next issue for reducing stress is when the days shorten and the daytime temps abate ... if you are going to cut off 80% of the roots.. you simply dont want the plant to deal with any temps over 75 degrees or so ... if you are trying to save the leaves ... so we either want the leaves dormant [perhaps after the frost] or falling off ... and thirdly ... night temps... if the temps at night.. are in the 50's... the plant has time to pump some water.. to aid the plant above ground.. and grow some roots ... and how cool it is at night can offset how warm it is during the day .... all that said .... its all about reducing or eliminating the stress of cutting off a majority of the roots ... after all those considerations.. there are all the issues of proper aftercare including PROPER PLANTING ... PROPER MULCHING AND PROPER WATERING FOR UP to 2 years afterward .... so IMHO.. no matter what zone you are in ... you have to address all 3 issues ... it should be apparent.. how stressful it would be to be doing this in august .. in z8 ... so contemplate the other end of the spectrum and you should be well on your way to success ... ken

*chuckles* ... "yard worker"??? when was it declared non-PC to call Mexicans, Mexicans? Oh, I get it. You must be one of the fabled "job creators" that is mentioned so often in the evening brainwash sessions 'round these parts. pardon my engrish. Gardeners are yard workers, and gardening is yard work. Gardening is universal in this earth and feeds both rich and poor. It don't matter who you think you are really. You should heed the advice given by others more subtle than moi and get your little paws dirty and dig down the dirt and determine how much moisture is reaching out to the roots of the plant. It should feel moist, not wet. Yeah, dirt and compost is smelly and yucky, but that is what plants use to make food. Even with my multiple health problems and crippling back pain I look forward to get down and dirty with my yard work and tend to my plants my self. If you'd rather keep your hands clean and manicured, then heed the advice of the yard worker and check for those weeds down there. I think it's the American thing to do that European-Americans pay yard workers for work that you refuse to do. Or you can round up a couple of yard workers and put them in a shack in the back 40 and feed them some food, and have them pick cotton for you from sunrise to sunset. Healthcare would be optional, of course. Just like the olden days when European settlers 'worked' the land back in, oh 1850's? At least old-time Euros were not squeamish about dirt. How's your royalty checks coming along these days? Grandpapi sure was nice giving you that piece of land down south fertilized with oil. Must be nice. Back to reality, gardening can be frustrating, but when you finally see those veggies on your table, it gives you a sense of accomplishment and connection to the earth like no other thing you can buy. I do not think the cardboard was an issue. Maybe you should have poked some small holes in it like another gardener suggested. But if your yard 'workar' mentioned to you that there was something still alive back there, you should follow his advise and pay to have the raised beds moved to a weed free area or replace the card board bottom. One layer should be good to go.

Planting Shrubs The first step to having a beautiful shrub in your garden is to plant it. This is a little scary because most shrubs are a long-term proposition and many are quite expensive. Add to this the old stories about how difficult the whole thing is and you might be a bit wary of trying this. Most shrubs these days will be bought in a pot, especially by inexperienced gardeners. This is great because planting can be done at almost any time and there's almost nothing that can go wrong. I'll describe how to plant bare-root shrubs later. Another little luxury with a pot-grown shrub is that it can be left for several months, even years, before being planted in the garden. By far the hardest part of planting a shrub is preparation of the hole. Water the pot throroughly before you start or even the night before. You can modify the soil near the shrub but its extensive roots will eventually hit your native clay/rock/sand and should be able to withstand the natural conditions. Preparation of the hole is simply to give the shrub a good start. The general rule is to dig a hole twice the depth and width of the pot and to mix some organic material into the soil from the hole. Some slow-release fertiliser like bone-meal or granular 7-7-7 can also be added to the mix but don't overdo it. Water the hole throroughly - in very dry soil, fill the hole with water and allow it to drain. If the shrub has many circling roots from being trapped in the pot, gently tease some of them loose without breaking them. Plant the shrub with the top of the soil at the same level as in the pot. Use the mixed soil and organic compost to fill the hole firmly. Use your heel to press the soil down. To help with watering, you can plant in a slight hollow or add a raised ring of soil round the edge of the hole. Water again throroughly and water regularly during dry weather for the first year. Bare-root shrubs are just that, shrubs that have little or no soil, just roots in a bag. They are only available in late autumn and winter when the shrubs are dormant, otherwise they would quickly die in such a condition. They should be planted quite quickly. Planting is essentially the same as for pot plants, but you need a little more care to avoid air pockets and keep the roots in contact with soil. Watering is less important since the shurb is mostly dormant, but it will still need extra water during its first season. Bare root shrubs can be stored for a few weeks by "heeling in". You simply dig a small trench, lay the plants on the mound of soil at one side of the trench, with the roots in the trench, and loosely cover the roots with soil. Finally, make sure you don't plant your shrubs too close. Most shrubs are large and make an individual statement. They should usually be planted so that there will be space around the plant even when it is mature. Check the final width since many shrubs grow wider than tall, only a few have extremely upright habits. Moving Shrubs Rule one when moving a shrub is to get the largest intact rootball possible. Rule two: see rule one. Expect to dig out nearly as much root as there is top growth. You will need mechanical help to dig and move large shrubs. Smaller ones can be hauled on a tarp and the smallest can be carried or lifted into a wheelbarrow. Disturb the roots as little as possible and move the shrub during its dormant season if this is possible. Replanting is much like the original planting. Big hole, lots of water, and a little fertiliser. Adding organic material is less important since this shrub is already growing in your garden soil. Pruning Shrubs Now you've got your shrub planted, maybe moved it to a better place, and you'll be wanting to chop bits off it. It's very hard to generalise about when and how to prune, because every shrub is different. The timing of pruning is important. Shrubs that flower on new growth, usually in summer, any pruning should be done in the spring as new growth is starting. Vigorous growers are usually pruned quite hard. With slow growers, often only dead wood and crossing branches are removed. Many shrubs flower in spring on old wood and these cannot be pruned until after flowering. Some shrubs need special pruning techniques to encourage flowering, berries, or a particular growth pattern. With all shrubs, it is worth removing dead and diseased branches every year. Dead limbs can be shredded for a nice mulch or composting, but don't use diseased wood. Prune with sterilised tools if you have been cutting diseased wood. Make a clean cut at a downward angle and cut just above a growth bud so that the branch won't die. It shouldn't be necessary to apply anything to the cut. Planting a hedge Now you can plant one shrub but what about a hedge? Hedges are intended to be a solid mass of plant-life, usually dense enough that you can't see through. Evergreen hedges are preferred, but you can have a deciduous hedge or something like a Beech hedge that keeps its dead leaves until spring. The first step in getting a good hedge is to choose a shrub suitable for the type of hedge. Pick something that will be easy to trim to the height you want, dense enough for any screening you need, suitable for your sun/shade/water situation, and evergreen in your climate if you need winter screening. It is a good idea to choose a relatively trouble free species because that many shrubs packed together is just asking for disease and insects. All that remains in most cases is to plant your shrubs the right distance apart. Usually you just plant a line of plants, but it is possible to plant two staggered lines to get a deeper more solid hedge with very upright or sparse shrubs. A very few shrubs need special techniques such as planting at 45 degrees to get extra density with a tree-like plant. You should plant about a quarter of the mature shrub's width apart, or a little more if you are planting two staggered rows. Usually this is 1'-2'. A good hedge shrub supplier will have advice for each type of shrub and hedge. Image by: Ian Nartowicz