in my world.. the usefulness of those plants expired a decade ago ... listen to me.. the front door.. is NOT a spot to spend 3 to 5 years renovating a bunch of grandpa-like old bushes,..... get rid of ALL OF THEM ... maybe if they were out the back door.. i might enjoy watching how they dealt with mutilation... but not out front .... even the one on the right.. when you remove the smaller squat one in front of it.. it will have a big gaping brown spot.. which will look like carp .... whats the rest of your landscapers idea.. other than saving the two i want dead???? where you are... might make a difference!! thx for the pix.. looks nothing like what i imagined ... and dont forget... its not whether these specific plants can recover.. its about the statement you are making at the front door .... big difference there ... ken

I've had great success with figs and pomegranates when they're dormant, so it seems like a fine time to try those. I imagine the same is true for those decidous fruit as well. As for the citrus, are you going to try actual cuttings, or grafting?? I bet you'll have good luck with most of those now. Seems like a lot of deciduous fruit root best when dormant. Let us know what you do and how it works out. Your friend sounds generous! Happy gardening, Grant

Last year was my first year ever I rooted cuttings in zone 5b. First batch taken in August semi-woody all rooted in less than 10 days. Second batch another variety taken first week in October, rooted in one week. Third batch taken in late November rooted in 7-10 days. Fourth, fifth and sixst batch were cuttings stored in fridge that were originally cut for third batch in late November. As they are rooted in February and March indoors, and and April (garden bed), they all took 2-3 weeks to start showing roots. Fastest rooting was in order: August-October-November etc. One former member of the forum explained that dormant or re-fridgerated cuttings have closed "pipeplines" compared to freshly cut cuttings, and need to re-juice and start rooting. These findings of mine confirm it, however the difference is of little signifficance in the big picture. Rooting in garden bed in late April will give you almost 90% success rate with least effort. However, overall growth and maturity of the stems will be behind compared to those started indoors. Choice is yours, but if you leave wood outdoors ower the winted open to deep freeze, you will have nothing to root. good luck

For Zone 9, you can transplant many things year-round, though during the summer you will need to stay on top of transplants and make sure they stay moist. But they get less stress from September through to April. Tender plants should be planted sooner rather than later. If they are transplanted any time after October, it is possible they will not establish themselves enough to survive a light frost. If they do not get transplanted before November, it might be better to wait until March. Hardier perennials and deciduous could wait until they go dormant, they will get less stress this way and you won't have to be as worried about watering. A good layer of mulch around the root zone will help modulate the soil temperature and minimize temperature swings. However, in my experience, the absolute best time to do transplanting is when a Tropical Storm is coming. A week of steady rainfall is the best thing for transplants!