You can have him dig around it and lift it to see how big it is. They are so late to emerge I'm sure it's still dormant and won't hurt it. If need be, you could just make the hole bigger and move it over to make room for posts. You could even divide it now too, that is, and if you have room for another.

Your gate sounds like a lovely addition, please be sure to post pics.

you didnt mention how far the hole will be from the center of the plant ..have him dig it out.. set it aside ... install the post ... and have him plop it back in when hes done ... im more worried about his whompin huge feet crushing the heck out of it.. rather than surviving a move ...

if you where doing this in august ... its be a different thing ...

i dont know why you are think this H .. or any H is so foo foo .. it cant be moved.. 2 weeks after ground thaw ...

yes.. you might lose it .. so be it.. it isnt worth worrying about it ... as the gate will be glorious ....

post us some pix ... when its done ... if you can ... or if you can get hubby to put the circular pruning saw ... snap some BEFORE pix ...

ken

ps: is he using a post that wont rust out????

I painted the square pipe with 2 coats of oil based rust preventative
paint. Then reached inside as far as I could with a narrow artist’s brush to do
the inside. I got about a foot down, both ends. 2 coats. I will have to make a
cap to fit the top. But bought some rubber cane tips to cover it until I get a
metal cap made. The pipes are 4 feet long.

I figured it would be hard to dig out because I had a devil of
a time getting it planted in the first place. I’m not good at planting big things,
and worse at digging them out. But that’s because of my foot problems, which mean I have to take small shovelfuls.

Where I have the stakes marked right now, it’s about 14-16
inches from the post to the center of the hibiscus. I can move the location to
the left, but can’t go too far without running into a major hosta bed, and I am
not precisely sure where all those are, since they are not showing. Most were
staked but the stakes are gone. Where it is now, there are perennials that are
growing, or dead sticks that show where they are. Lilies too, but there is nothing I can do
about that.

I originally had a different place planned for this. Not til
I really measured it out did I realize I would look better in this new
location.

Here's the gate, before I started getting the rust off: It’s
actually a fence section, but I have been calling it a gate since I bought it. It's 54" high and 45" wide. The two outer legs are 35" wide. The legs are too short to go into concrete, that's why we came up with the idea of using square pipe to set into the concrete. He will sink the pipe as far as he can into the ground. Then I have U clamps to fasten the pipe to the gate legs at the bottom. Foliage will cover that. I am still trying to decide what to use higher up, as whatever I use will be visible there.

i dont know if you got the point ...

gate placement is imperative .. period ... place it properly ... you are going to have to look at it forever ... and an unfavorable siting might drive you crazy ...

technically .. the plant is disposable ... move it .. insert gate ... replant the plant ...

ken

Yes, good point. It's not like I'm placing a birdbath! :) I should look at the whole bed surrounding it as changeable. Thanks!

Well…it’s done, but it was a huge ordeal. In my yard, there
is about 8 inches to a foot of topsoil, and solid dense clay under that, that
is also full of rocks. It’s why I have difficulty planting anything large. I
had told him that in advance, but it was not something he had dealt with
before (this was friend doing the work, like a trade; I will help him install a non-standard door later). The auger was useless after a foot. I have a post hole digger too, that
was no better. The clay had to be chipped out bit by bit, and larger rocks
pried out til the depth got to the 2 feet he wanted. So instead of 2 deep narrow holes, we had 2 cone-shaped holes, maybe 16" in diameter.

We moved the big hibiscus, and some lilies, and I had put
stakes marking other plants to protect them. But that plan went by the wayside
quickly, as digging those holes seemed to require more and more room. I was
supposed to be just an observer, due to my knee surgery. But I and another friend
ended up helping too, which flattened the area even more. I should have removed
all the plants within a 3 foot radius of each hole!

We got the posts level, mixed and poured in the concrete.
Then the position of the posts had to be endlessly tweaked, which took 3 of us.
I wanted to “hide” the square posts behind 2 of the outermost uprights. The
plan was to let the posts set while we had lunch (it was then 3:30, and we had started at 12:30). But we decided to place the gate
immediately, while we could still move the posts slightly. Which turned out to
be a good thing. Again, more tweaking of
angles and leveling. Had to shim one end with bricks, as (you might be able to
see in the above photo) the pointed ends at the bottom are different lengths.
Got it clamped on with 2 thick U bolts at the bottom and muffler clamps at the
top. I will paint those soon.

Tomorrow I will have to clear out stray gravel and clay
pieces from around it, which will be challenging considering I can’t kneel on
my right knee.

I will come up with a new place for the hibiscus, which I
put into a large pot temporarily. I have a non-performing Endless Summer
hydrangea at the sunnier end of the bed, which never grows more than a 16” tall
(and doesn’t bloom). I think I’ll put the hibiscus there, where it won’t block
the view of the gate.

The thing I am worried about now is how compacted the soil
became. I don’t know what to do about that, if anything is possible. The plants
that had not yet emerged might not be able to get through. The ones that were emerging in that 3 foot radius are largely smashed. Some
tall salvias, liatris. Lots of crushed irises. I think I will fork those out
and move them. I don’t know if it would be advisable to try to stick pitchfork
in and loosen the soil in general. And/or just add some bagged topsoil on top
of everything, and call it a day. Buy some new plants. ;) I know I will like the results in the end,
once things start growing around it.

oh stop worrying.. lol ... the job is done ...

ma nature is rather resilient ... probably surprise you.. over all ... so be it... if there are some losses ...

ken

I'd say just top-dress the area with a good, high quality compost, and let the worms do what the worms do best!!

Would love to see a picture of the new gate.

PS--my soil is the same as yours--about 12 inches of good loamy soil, underlain with SOLID clay. And when I say SOLID, I'm sure you know what I'm talking about!!

Hey, Ken: I am a
natural worrier! That’s just what I do. And mother nature ignores that and does
whatever she likes, thus proving time and again that my worrying was pointless. If the compacting of the dirt doesn’t do any
real harm, that’s one thing less I will think about.

I wanted to get the
gravel out mostly because I find it annoying to constantly be running into
stones when I dig. Plus the chunks of clay.
At one time when we were young and ignorant, and we moved here 30 +
years ago, we covered the beds in the 2 front gardens with small lava rocks,
not realizing what a headache those would prove to people who actually dig in
their gardens. I am still pulling out those stones, but had just about gotten
to the point where the majority of them were gone.

I’m going to see what
I can pull out without too much effort; or using the affected knee: then cover
it all with compost in a few days when I am less sore and feel like I can haul
bags. The hole areas are low anyway,
since we didn’t replace any of the clay: I'll need a bag each of topsoil there. I have one trash can 2/3 full of clay
and stones up to fist size to throw out!

My mind is now
turning to how I can set the gate off. Right now it sticks out really
noticeably. It IS 54” tall. My friend is worried that some one would steal it
to sell for scrap iron. In his neighborhood he said it would not last an
hour. This end of this garden was always
haphazardly planted, now I can redesign it.

I'd love to see a photo of it in place also - it was quite lovely even all by itself. Sounds like a lot of work to get it in.