I am surprised no one has responded so far. I can only give a little practical advise as I live in zone 8b. I would have already done transplanting if possible. But I do understand your conditions are way different from mine. But I would say Dig your new hole first amend soil if needed. When you dig get has many roots as possible. Have a tarp or something similar, to slide under rootball to keep it intact. Having another set of hands is always helpful. You may need a pry bar or a piece of 2x4 to pry under center of rootball. Once you have plant roots loose slide tarp under as much as possible with another set of hands you can lift one side of rootball to access other side so tarp is completely under then you can lift plant out set in will barrow or use tarp to slide plant to new location. I am sorry some of this may seem out of order. Several days before you plant to dig. water plant well slowly and deeply, this will help soil stay together better while digging and moving and repositioning. I have recently moved a large growing holly bush that I had only set out in a temporary location and took off like gangbusters so had to move already 8 feet high in 3 0r 4 years. So dug root ball and had to cut many roots. I had to use a 2x4 to pry up under the center of root ball because the shovel wouldn't let me reach any farther. But was able to slide tarp under and with help lift from the crater I'd dug move to an already prepared hole. I did some slight pruning to shape but ended up cutting off main leaders but it is such will make new ones quickly this summer. If you are able to get a goodly amount of roots and keep plant moist so it will not dry out you may not need to prune. But if you loose many roots prune to shape so you keep a balance of top to bottom. There are many other post on this site about moving camellias so read them and get a good idea of what you are doing and you should be successful. Good luck James Maloy

Transplant the camellia when it's dormant (before it puts out new leaves in the spring.) Keep it shaded and watered after you move it until it gets established. Good luck. Rich

I have had a chance to move some rather large camellias in the past. In fact I moved over a hundred back some years ago. You may be moving them a little early in the year but on the upper Pacific Coast, the weather might be in your favor. First, root prune the camellias at about 36 inches from the trunk. If you can get wider, go as wide away from the trunk as possible. The Camellia has shallow roots and you will get most of them within the top foot of top soil. I would use an 18" sharp shooter. Go all around each plant about 18" deep. Second, prepare the place where you are going to plant the Camellias. I would till up an area about 6 ft. in diameter per plant. After you till the soil to at least 18" to 24"deep, I would add about 3 or 4 cu. ft. of a combination of ground up pine bark and sand. I would till this into the spot and also add some natural fertilizer. If you have cotton seed meal available, I would use that. I would put in about 10 lbs of cotton seed meal into the mixture of pine bark and sand. This will give you a real fluffy mound. It should be about 6 ft. wide. Let it sit for as long as you can before moving the large plants. When you move the plants, the later in the year the better, I would move off the top foot of soil from your prepared bed, sit the large rootball on top of the soil and cover it with the soil mixture that you removed. You will note that you are planting the Camellia on the top of the ground. Do not dig it out so that you are planting the plant in a hole. You want to have it sitck out of the ground at least 8 to 10 inches. Prune the top of the plant back to about 18: from the trunk of the plant. Keep it watered good but do not drown it. Let it settle on its own. Within 3 or 4 months it will settle about six inches and will continue to settle a little more over the next year. Keep at least two inches of the soil mixture over the exposed roots. I would also use some root tone in the hole to stimulate new root growth. I wrote an article for the Camellia Journel several years ago about moving established Camellias. If you would contact Tom Johnson, the chief gardner at the American Camellia Society through their web site, he could probably get you some articles on moving large Camellias. Ann Walton is the Executive Director of the A.C.S. and she may be able to point you to someone in the Washington area who has some experience as well. Bob

amberroses is referring to the fact that camellias are starting to develop flower buds now and you may miss the bloomage if you transplant now. Plants that are moved will usually suffer from transplant shock and existing flower buds may be aborted during these stressful times. Depending on the type and variety, camellias can start in Sept-Oct & bloom well into March of next 2010 (or a little after that). The previous owner might be able to give you more accurate blooming times. Your success rate may be better if you do this while the plants are dormant, i.e., when Fall-Winter arrive and not while Summer is going strong. Choose a location that protects them from the hot afternoon summer sun. For example, select a spot that gets shaded at the same time as the current one does or gets shade starting around 11am-12pm. The sasanqua leaves will handle more sun than japonicas leaves do so keep that in mind too. The new location should be mulched with 3-4 of mulch and should have a sprinkler/drip system that can provide as much moisture as the existing location. Here is a link that might be useful: Camellia Information by the A. C. S.