Douglas, Yates still have Stressguard in 1 or 2 Litre bottles you may have to get it from a farm supply place as most Garden Centres find that size to large to stock.
Heather

I always do 2 things.
First spray all foliage (after pruning if required) with an anti-transpirant like Envy or StressGuard. Perform follow-up applications as per instructions.
Second apply a root initiation stimulant like Formula 20 or PlantStarter, and again follow-up with repeat applications.

Transplanting involves walking a difficult line between over-watering and under-watering. Remember that the roots have been damaged and are therefore unable to perform their usual function of water uptake for the plant.

Apply too much and you will rot the residual roots. You are trying to encourage immediate and maximal root replacement. If the rootzone is continuously saturated it will become anaerobic, cellular growth will halt, and say farewell to any roots. Apply too little and you will hasten the process of dessication. That's why an anti-transpirant buys a little fudge factor into the equation.

Definitely no fertiliser! This will create a zone of higher salt concentration around the root tips then there is in the roots themselves. Water will then diffuse from the roots into the surrounding medium in an attempt to balance the concentration. Yes, the plant will need nutrition to recover, but this comes after root initiation. For example, if I transplant during winter I cautiously fertilise in early October.

Hi there, a lot depends on what you are transplanting too... Large trees and shrubs will be terribly stressed and one of the most importnat things you can do is 'wrench' them well ahead of time. If you can't do this the next most imprortant thing is to take as much soil with them as possible and make sure you trim any damaged roots back to encourage new feeder roots when you replant.

I personally think stressguard spray is a cop out as it is not proven to make any difference whatsoever but if it makes you feel better, use it! I am a firm believer that if your plants know you love them they will be okay... Excuse me if that sounds airy fairy, it's not meant to but I have experience in this area.

Make sure the new area you put them into is well composted with a NEUTRAL compost (not mushroom or another 'hot' compost) and use pelletised sheep manure if you can get it.... The main thing is the watering... Water them deeply (like 3 10 ltre buckets for t\rees and shrubs) a couple of times as this promoted deep new root growth....

Most perennials are very tolerant of being moved and should not be a problem.

let me know how you get on.

Thanks for your replies all,
I shifted the first batch of things yesterday-which happened to be accompanied by a searing norwesterly wind.
I suppose you can plan for everything except the weather!
I'll let you know how I get on with the 3m beech tree.
Douglas

I transplanted magnolias and camellias last year and watered them in with a weak seaweed solution. All are doing well - except the possums ate just about every single magnolia bud last week...don't suppose you need any more possums over your side of the Tasman (sorry, bad joke.)

If the weather is a problem, cover the plants with cloth (a sheet) or hessian to lessen the effect of the wind. It will lower the demands on water loss.