I hope you'll consider giving them away; even old rhodies can be moved fairly easily with the right equipment. This would solve the root removal problem and give your shrubs a second lease on life. One of the regulars on this forum reported on moving some old rhodies, last year or the year before - can't recall exactly who it was, but she provided photos of the whole operation. In her case, she was moving them from one side of her property to the other, but the same could be done across town, I'm sure.

It was Jane ("corunum") who had all the rhodies moved last year with great success.

We had one very old one (more like 50 years) that we tried to move when we first moved into this house a few years ago (because of house renovations that meant it HAD to be removed). We tried to do it ourselves because I wanted to transplant it, but because the roots were so massive and extensive, we ended up butchering it to get it out. I wish I'd hired someone -- not just because I might have been able to save the shrub but because I wouldn't have as many residual (THICK!) roots in the area. I'm still fighting them!

I would absolutely hire someone, and if you're doing that anyway, perhaps they could dig them out in a manner that would allow them to be relocated with a new family (agree completely with diggingthedirt that it would be a shame to just destroy them).

PLEASE post them on your local craigslist! You are sure to find takers who will be thrilled with the opportunity. Be sure to specify how large the plants are, so you don't have folks arriving with a couple of shovels.

Jane, thanks for the details. I have a old rhodie I want to move from my foundation - the darn thing is at least twelve feet high, (even with repeated whacking back) smack in front of a picture window. Bad planning on the PO's part, huh?

Anyway, I'm hesitant to have a bulldozer dig so close to my foundation. You say yours were hand-dug, and then scooped out by a bobcat - did the bobcat actually reach in and scoop, (i.e. *push*) or was the rhodie lifted into the bucket somehow?

I figure no landscaper is going to want to hand-dig. So I think I will have to do it myself. But when you mentioned the "350-pound" rootball, I don't think I can lift and carry that across the yard to it's new spot!

:)
Dee

Oh they'll hand dig....and charge you $$$ for it. ;-) We had 2 enormous yews and a few scraggly rhodies removed from our very small yard during our re-landscaping. Since our yard is elevated and separated by a stone wall from the sidewalk, no equipment could get in easily and even if they did, they didn't have much room to work. So they hand dug them out.

That said, I watched them do it, and while it didn't look too fun to me, it only took a couple of guys a few hours to do it. But they also weren't trying to save anything.

Looks as though you've asked a popular question, Barb!

I wrote all this out THEN I found a video that shows exactly what I wrote. Watch the video, it's easier, lol.

Knowing what I NOW know about moving or removing large bushes, let me say this: If you have enough willing people and think the moving process through, I'm convinced a 2-4 teenage/adult group of people can do it without the machinery. The hand digging is a must to free the shrub's rootball. Just "Google" the subject 'Transplanting large shrubs' and a half-million links show up with all sorts of advice and devices used in large tranplantations. Much more care has to be used (like NOT putting a chain around the trunk) if the shrub is going to be saved. If the shrub is going to shrub heaven, then de-branch it (if that's a word), leave a few feet of the trunk to use as a lever to rock the roots, and basically chop or use a pruning saw on the rootball. The size of the trunk will help indicate how large the rootball is. Bear in mind that mine are 2.5 to maybe 6 caliper trunk size, and it was pouring the whole time the guys were digging so those rootballs were larger than perhaps necessary to help ensure their survival and they were dripping wet. A drier rootball on a thinner trunk won't be as heavy. I had specifically requested that I wanted them carried by machine because I didn't want a Come Along used fearing bark would be injured.

Dee: I would not hesitate to move your already pruned rhody by hand. With helping hands, you can most probably get a tarp under the rootball and pull it out and to its new site.

Barb: Go for it. They can live 100 years+, but if your 70 years old guy is unhealthy or its lack of prime is making the owner unhappy, life goes on. I didn't want to lose my old pine trees and cried when they were felled, but today my street border is very alive, neater, and very colorful.

My 3 rhodies were moved roughly 75 feet down on my street border. The naked land where the pines had been felled was scraped and 18 yards of new soil was spread where the rhodies were going and it cost $1000. It was the only way I was going to get an instant 15 foot tall border and I have no regrets. For those who remember that saga, 'Pining Over Pines', I have also placed 5 flowering trees in front of the rhodies to give them more filtered shade and the whole border is underplanted with azaleas. To me, gardening is outdoor housekeeping and design. Sometimes the 'furniture' needs rearranging.

Kindly,
Jane

Here is a link that might be useful: This Old HouseTree Stump Removal Video

Thank you all for taking the time to help me with my Rhody problem. I wish I could post a picture of them- maybe I will be able to later today. Our front yard was originally completely covered with white pines (HUGE) and after one fell and narrowly missed our house we had them culled. These rhodies (and we still have many otherson the property) were so sun-starved that they grew in a very scraggly way looking for a little sun. I have given them two years and followed every growing tip I can find but they look bad and bloom very little. To give you an idea of how unattractive they are, my very sweet next door neighbor has asked me several times what I plan to do about them (they are his view from his front porch.) Even though I am relatively fit and enjoy a day's work in the garden, from what you all have said this job is outside my capabilities and I'll have to call the tree guys. If they were better looking I would definitely like someone else to have them but...

Thanks so much,

Barb

Barb, if I understood you correctly, a) you removing them only because you don't like how they look now, and b)you wouldn't mind to have them there if they were not as scragly as they are and c) you don't have an urgency or specific plan to plant something else instead of them.
If yes, then the best solution would be to just simply cut them down to 6-8" and water the stumps whole season.
In 3 years you'll have nice small shrubs which you could start pruning and shaping to your liking.

Hey, Dee.
The same suggestion is applicable to your case as well :-))

LOL, George, funny you should mention that. Trust me, there has been more than one occasion where I have stood in front of this rhodie, just looking and contemplating, and I would hear your voice saying "Just whack it back to six inches!" lol!

I know that would be much easier to handle, and I know they grow back quickly, but I want to use it as part of a privacy screen on the boundary, so I want to keep as much height as possible. I'm thinking I might cut it down to three feet or so....

:)
Dee

I'll think about cutting them back to 6-8". The original owner of my house was the president of the NH state garden club (when the white birch was made the state tree) and I really don't like tearing out her original plantings. I wish I could find a picture of the garden when she was here. She was also a state senator and I have a picture of her during the 1950's with Hugh Gregg who was the governor then.

Thanks for all your help.

Barb