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Transplant hydrangeas now or this fall?

17 years ago

I'll admit that I'm a beginner at this, but I've just realized that I made a huge mistake regarding the location that I chose for two of my recently purchased hydrangeas. I planted the first hydrangea (a 1 gallon Endless Summer) in April and the second hydrangea (a 1 gallon Forever and Ever) in early May.

The forever and ever is at the end of my driveway (but within my sprinkler zones) and the endless summer is at the edge of a bed toward the middle of my backyard. Now that warm weather is here, I realize that these hydrangeas are in full sun pretty much all day. I'm worried that I'm wasting a whole season's worth of growth trying to grow these under a heat lamp when I have a couple of nicer shadier spots that would be much better for them.

Should I just grit my teeth and wait until fall to transplant these two plants? I'm planning on swapping the endless summer out with a butterfly bush that I have planted in a spot that is too shady for it and I would swap the forever and ever out to a spot where I currently have a potted double-knockout (I would plant the double-knockout in the ground where the forever and eve is currently). The butterfly bush was just planted in April.

What would you do? I think that I can stay on top of the watering if that's the issue.

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Comments (5)

yellowgirl
17 years ago
I would go ahead and move them now. Since they are recently planted, they haven't established much of a root system yet anyway and probably won't even experience any transplant shock at all. In fact,they will appreciate the relief from the sun. In any location, water should not be spared during the first season or two. Move them now and make it easy on yourself....BTW, (Although Fall is best for transplanting a large old established plant), I live in Florida heat and move them all the time...A good sized root ball and WATER is the key....yg
jbjust
Original Author
17 years ago
Looking at the forever and ever and the endless summer, the forever and ever looks like it is handling the full sun much, much better than the endless summer. Other than some crisping at the edges of the leaves, I've seen no wilt at all with the more leathery forever and ever hydrangeas.

Is it worth experimenting and just moving the Endless Summer and seeing if the Forever and Ever does fine in the full sun?
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Three years ago this fall I moved three 4-year-old Cornus alternifolia that had sprouted in unwanted places to a new shrub & small tree bed. They still had leaves on. The two that I treated with some care drooped a bit, but recovered well. The one that was treated less well (roots had to get trimmed because it was growing into something I wanted to keep where it was) defoliated and had some branch die-back, but regrew the following spring and is now about 6 feet tall. So all three transplants survived. In addition, all of the container plants, including 15 or so broad-leaved and coniferous evergreens, were transplanted without any issues what-so-ever. At the time I hesitated about the evergreens in the fall, but I can't resist a good fall sale and I wanted things as settled as possible before summer high temperatures hit. The plants are located in full sun in a bed of well-composted manure over very fine sandy loam that is well mulched. So I know the conventional wisdom is to not transplant or plant in the fall this far north, but I've been successful since our falls tend to be longer than our springs, the soil is warm and we get more regular moisture without the soil being quite so saturated as during our springs (AKA mud season). I added a Stewartia to the same bed about two weeks ago, and will see how it does come spring, though my concerns have more to do with borderlne hardiness than the time of year of transplanting.
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Hydrangea means "water vessel"......I read it somewhere, so Sue is right, water is the word!! You might put an upside-down lawn chair over it to shield it from the sun....when and if it's in the hot sun for a few weeks also. You might try taking some cuttings of this plant also, you might find in the long run, two years down the road, that the rooted cutting do better for you than the poor hacked-up plant! Five or six rooted cuttings planted 3 or 4 inches apart in a circle will make you a great plant!! Remember when you take cuttings you don't just have to take them from the top of the branch, you can use the whole branch, taking cuttings all the way down the stem. You can get 3to4 cutting per stem that way, they all root! Refer to some of the other posts on how to take and root cuttings if you have never done so, very simple, hydrangeas root like weeds!! Good luck! Donna
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I moved them in a late fall and in an early spring and found no difference. I'd do it in a fall for two reasons: - in a spring you have to walk on a somewhat wet grounds and will compact the soil, - in a fall you clearly see where something is/was growing and not step on it while in a spring you don't have those 'markers' (if you clean your beds in a fall).
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Usually, you do not need to prune hydrangeas. If the plant was placed in a location where it can grow to its size at maturity, pruning will not be needed often. In general, you want to prune to remove dead wood; to rejuvenate an old plant; for safety reasons; for aesthethic reasons (one stem grows more than the others); to create a standard hydrangea tree-like shape (usually done with paniculatas). ES is rebloomer hydrangea. As all hydrangeas that bloom on old wood only, ES develops flower buds in the Fall. If the stems and the buds survive winter in your area then these would develop blooms in Spring. But after that flush of blooms or if the stems dry out during winter, ES will develop new flower buds and bloom some time after the first flush. The longer your growing season is, the more flushes of blooms you can have. Deadheading (not the same as pruning) will help ES produce more blooms; maybe this is what they were talking about in the video. See the link to the Endless Summer Website below. Luis Here is a link that might be useful: ES Website: Care and growing tips
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sharkygirl
15 years ago
Hi,
I have to move some fairly large and healthy hydrangea bushes as the plants are too close to the foundation of the house. I also have 3 lilac trees to be moved. I am heart-broken that this has to be done. Any help/hints/tips to ease my grief?
dojgt_comcast_net
13 years ago
Is it safe to transplant my hydrangeas now May?
moving and would like to take it with me
vivian_2010 (IL Zone 5a)
13 years ago
Hi jbjust,

I would suggest that you move them now. ES is very intolerate of too much sun, particularly the first year plant, and the afternoon sun. They will wilte and burn easily without the afternoon shade. I planted a couple ES in early May in a most sunny spot (did not do my homework), had to move them in early June. I am in Chicago and Zone 5. I think your Zone 7 sun will be harder for your ES.

I have moved ES successfully in May and in late September. If you move now, just make sure you water them frequently, they will do fine. Do make sure that the new spots have enough shade, try not to have any afternoon sun.

Dionel, you should be able to move your hydrangeas now, just make sure you dig as much soil around the root as possible, put them in a pot or I put them in a large garbage bag (only for the root part), and keep them moist and not exposured to sun. And plant them as soon as you can. You should be fine. I had to move some plants last year to another house, left the plants out of ground for a week or so. They all survived and did very well.

Good luck,
Vivian

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