how big is it ...

when i come to huge plants .. i search long and hard.. trying to figure out.. how to move anything/everything else ... rather than rassle with a monster ...

how about a pic ... maybe we can come up with some ideas???

ken

The beast is 3' x 6'

I also would leave it where it is. I.e., I had planned to move a very large (3'x3') 'Abba Dabba Do' across the lawn, but gave up, would have been too heavy to lift it out of its hole and slide onto a sled.
In case you want to move it anyway, I would start digging a trench around it, especially that 2 ' to the north, slide some board under it and then slide that S&S on that board....
Bernd

I moved an S&S that size last fall to a different bed, no problem. It looks fine this year. I also moved a Queen of the Seas this spring (not quite fully unfurled) that was a little easier. And a large Journey's End, Paradigm, and Inniswood a couple years ago, just a few feet, and they were so much easier.

Water the plant a day or two before. Dig your hole where the plant is being moved. If they're that close, go ahead and dig out the soil between the new hole and the existing plant.

Just use a shovel to slice a line about where the leaf drip line is. Since S&S has such big floppy leaves, you can probably be okay going a foot in under the leaves. Remove some of the soil until you see roots. Then dig your shovel deeper and start lifting up each side of the root ball, all the way around. Angle your shovel mostly horizontal and go deeper the next time around. Eventually you'll get directly under the center of the plant and shovel through the last piece of connected soil.

Dig out the rest of the soil in the trench between holes. Use your hands to wipe away some extra soil if you want, so it weighs less. Then I just manhandle the root ball across the trench to the new hole, often using the shovel as a lever. Position the plant, fill in the soil, and water.

S&S didn't matter, since it was late in the fall. QotS finished unfurling this spring and looks great. Inniswood looked perfectly happy even in mid summer. Journey's End and Paradigm were in more sun, it was full summer, and I forgot to water as much. They had some outer leaves yellow and dry but were also okay.

too bad no one ever did a post about how to do it ...... lol

use GW search : MOVING A LARGE FULLY LEAFED OUT HOSTA

as noted.. lifting the darn thing is the usual BIG problem ...

KEN

I moved a 14 year old Sagae once......once.

My back still hurts.

I moved a mature Guacamole per Ken's instructions with the help of my able-bodied son at the end of last season and it worked beautifully. Here it is in June.
{{gwi:1015507}}

DD

Forgive me but I don't see the point of moving it a only a couple of feet. You may be able to fit in another hosta--for a year or two--and then the S&S will start engulfing it anyway, won't it?

I moved a mature Big Daddy last year...it's about 3x3 only...and it cost me half a day of hard work. To top it off, the hosta that I planted in BD's spot croaked over the winter. :(