how big are they ....

digging as big a root mass as you can physically move is always best ... at least 2 or 3 feet .. though 3 might be getting carried away ...

but more importantly.. do it in fall after the leaves fall off.. for the best odds of success ...

in my 'hood.. they are just coming into bloom.. never move a plant in bloom ... unless you dont care how that affects the odds ...

good luck

ken

Thanks for responding Ken - I went out to meas'r (under more sun #1 RoS) is 7'X7'x7' (drip-line meas) & 4x as many blooms-full since a wk ago. RoS #2 is 5.75'X5.75'x6'tall blooms flashed open 1 wk later intermittent sun exposure due to grown trees on the S side & across the Street but bright shade mostly.

We're at the bottom of a long cul de sac even walkers by noticed the big diff between the 2 more pronounced now than years ago.

If I was smart I should have waited till Fall to have cut down Crabby but I feared more limbs falling on Oakleaf Hydrangeas under. I'll wait til Fall then, to move these RoSs ~ many thanks Ken!

I get alot of dieback on my RoS in zone 5a. That makes me lean towards doing it in spring. Beyond on that I feel like they are pretty robust plant.

I thinned and pruned the heck out of the 10' I had and it bounced back with a vengance...including the blooms!

another thought..

as a shrub.. ROS requires rejuvenation pruning for maximum form ...

have you ever pruned your 6 year old plants ... perhaps this would be easier than moving them ..

check out the link ... especially the utube link ..... and be horrified.. lol.. at how this guy prunes his plant.. and there are a few others in the right panel ...

it is within you ability to trim them to what you want.. rather than moving them ...

when i think about it.. the ONLY way you are going to get twins.. is to learn how to train them .. rather than hoping placement and culture will achieve twin-ness ... nature kinda doesnt work that way ...

ken

Here is a link that might be useful: link

Thanks for the pruning link Ken ~ I didn't do too badly, I just didn't go as far close to the ground as I should have on select canes. I had no qualms cutting hard on some canes but didn't as good at clean up.

However, my problem will still be the big diff on Sun-exposure ~ #1 gets a great advantage & have pruned her once already before the bud flashed. Perhaps as the demo-pruner suggested, RoS can be prune any time one wishes to shape ~ I should try & see if I can come close to twinning the 2.

Whaas ~ thanks for your input ~ I consider myself forewarned about the *vengeful* personality. I'm quite familiar w/ such strong qualities ~ I own a female Ginkgo Tree!!!

Cut down low and move at end of winter. Dig bare-rooted, with as much root volume as possible coming away to the new location, instead of cutting roots way back in order to get manageable and intact soil balls. The shrubs want to keep their roots, don't need to take the soil with them as there is plenty of it where they are going.

Thanks BB ~ perhaps what I wanted to hear as I am more inclined to the thought of being able to relocate both to a better site for them & alleviate the too many large white bloomers on 1 side of the driveway!

And if as Whaas claims that their's got as tall as 10ft, that'd even serve the site vacated by Crabapple tree better. To plant a tree in the site is not an option for lack of room & time - a qtr circle of RoS will help save some of the smaller Hostas I have there.

BB ~ I like the idea of not hauling soil along ~ much like what we discovered relocating a 19y/o Nikko H (she let go of soil spontaneously!) to our surprise! Would it be as easy enough w/ RoS, what kind of a root sys does RoS have? TIA for a short *Bare root digging 101*

This is my ROS in late August after prunning it hard that spring. I'm just over 6' and it was as tall as me. It was pruned back from about 10' to 4'. It was somewhat shaded form a maple on the right and more sun on the left.

{{gwi:266460}}

Just to show why I'm considering to dig & relocate ...

Here is a link that might be useful: RoS pix

me thinks you doth protest too much ..

i dont see any problem with either ...

sans a micrometer.. i see no difference in size...

and the slightly different bloom period would .... in my world .. mean an extended show time .. rather than both ending at the same moment in time ...

but it is obviously personal choice..

in fall .. when the other trees start turning colors ... the plant will basically be dormant above .. i would start by digging a new hole ....

then i would cut them down to about 2.5 feet ... and get to digging.. starting out about 3.5 feet.. so i could end up with a 2 to 2.5 foot ball ... and than hook a chain to them.. and DRAG them to the new hole.. re-measuring first.. and resizing the hole if need be ... and drop it in there ...

back fill .. no amendments .. no fert no nothing ... water PROPERLY ... mulch well .. and be responsible for all PROPER water next year ...

IMHO.. they are nearly RUN OVER WITH THE TRUCK plants.. i wouldnt worry too much about it all .... [plz correct me if i am wrong, and althea is foo foo]

ken

ps: you leave the 2.5 height.. so you have something to rock it back and forth.. while you search for the big roots underneath ....

pps: frankly.. i would go buy two new ones.. and put them where you want them.. and just kill these two.. i work smart.. not hard ... but on my 5 acres .. i would just let the stumps rot where they stand ... unlike yours being right out there ... and if you are going to have to dig them out.. may as well try to save them ... what do you have to lose?? .. a little exercise???

ppps: rejuvenation pruning would be in its future to get rid of the 2.5 foot branches.. in the next 5 years or so ...

My air-con guy (loves plants) took a tour of my small collections & offered to free me of the pair - I promised that if I would finally decide, I'd give him a call.

I'll print this post from you & we'll deal w/ the feat in the Fall. Thank you for all the time ~ trust me it was not wasted! BTW the pix don't show the big diff from the vantage point of #2 RoS.

*IMHO.. they are nearly RUN OVER WITH THE TRUCK plants.. i wouldnt worry too much about it all .... [plz correct me if i am wrong, and althea is foo foo]*

Your above statement, gave me courage! I have 2 more in the back & will experiment on them! If the 2 in front were like the 1 Lavender Chiff in the back ... I wouldn't even think, *pruning* would be my ??!

Thanks a lot Ken!!! BTW T have big-baby Hydra-paniculatas that I can still plant where I was thinking to move RoS ~ easily doable!

I could no longer deal w/ all the seedlings growing all around my front ~ not to mention the seeds borne by gusts of strong winds/etc everywhere! As beautiful as they were all 4 of them I had them dug up & given away to someone w/ an acreage ~ happy to take then!!!

I have to deal now w/ all the seedlings & plant perhaps beautiful ornamental grass that wouldn't grow to large. I have a row of Shenandoahs I love but are taller than I wish for the sites. Any suggestions?

Ditas,
I have Silver Miscanthus, I love it!
it does love water though, so that is something to consider. it is beautiful! There is also "Morning Light" miscanthus which is also beautiful. The Silver Miscanthus has red stripes on it to add interest, but I am not really happy with the plumes, i thought it would look more like a Pampas plume. Look online under both grasses, very attractive.

to coin a phrase.. glad to have planted the seeds of destruction.. or in this case.. removal ...

congrats..

i put roundup in a mustard bottle.. like at the link.. and then i go after seedlings trees.. one snip as soil surface.. one drop 100% roundup .. 99% kill rate ... very little RU ... no waste.. no drift ... see link .. think dollar store.. and waste the product ... OR MAKE MUSTARD SOUP OR SOMETHING MUSTARDY ... lol

ken

Here is a link that might be useful: anything that will allow application of ONE DROP...