mshaffer....most important tool in my book is the heavy wrecking bar. once you stick a spade shovel all the way around what you want out...(that is where the maddock comes in handy to sever the rhizomes) you get that wrecking bar underneath the ball and start to pry up on it. it will "pop" out of the ground. there were many posts last season about making/selling the bamboo digging tool that someone else suggested. Wild Bill made a great one last year. I didn't make one. personally if you go out and dig with a sharpened shovel(use a grinder to sharpen the edge real good)..i'd bring two just in case and a sharpened mattuck. you should be good to go. All the other posts had viable info. one thing. I used shrink wrap that you would use for palletizing goods/material to pallets for shipping. I used that to wrap all my divisions into one big fat stem....tie a red flag on it. the reason i did this was because 1. It protects the leaves from transpiration when traveling. 2. It also gives the culms stability and although it is an odd looking it is way better than having a bunch of culms all over the place. what i did was after i cut my divisions, i bagged the rootballs with rags and wet them down heavy....then all of the culms sticking out the back i wrapped with shrink wrap. after i got what i thought would be enough without getting pulled over, i cut the tops off with pruning shears or loppers....Hope this helps. this is FYI....it worked good for me. Kurt

You might be better off just mulching the area and that should keep the weeds down but do not put in a raised bed. However if you still want plants look at ajuga or vinca both of which can become invasive and compete for nutrients with the maple. I am sure there are other perennials that you could try, but what piques your interest so i have included a link. Here is a link that might be useful: Propagating Perennials

Some tree installation considerations from this website ... https://www.earthturfwood.com/landscaping-blog/large-tree-planting-costs-considerations-and-whats-right-for-your-lancaster-or-reading-pa-home "As we mentioned, the term large is subjective. What you think of as a “large tree” might be different than what we think. First of all, it’s important to note that “large” is really relative to the species of the tree. While most people think about size in terms of height, what makes a tree truly large to a landscape professional is the size of its root ball. That’s what makes a tree difficult (or easy) to move and install. For the purposes of this article we will consider a medium-size deciduous tree to be around 12- to 15-feet in height with a rootball of approximately 36 inches (though again, that is relative to the species). At that approximate size, a landscape contractor would be able to move the tree with their own equipment. When referring to large tree planting in this article, we are talking about trees that have a root ball that is significantly more than 36 inches and that is likely 20-foot or higher. This size tree requires specialized equipment, which we will discuss later on. Finding the Best Trees for Your Home Every yard is different and every homeowner has different wants and needs. While trees of all sizes can be valuable to a property, some homeowners specifically like medium to large-size trees for the comfort and shade that they provide. A more mature landscape is both visually appealing as well as functionally desirable. While homeowners will sometimes think they want the biggest trees they can get, large trees aren’t always necessary to meet the objectives of your landscape design. They can also come with some downsides. For one, planting large trees can be a fairly involved process. It’s important to ensure that your contractor has proper access to the site if you’re going to be planting large trees. Getting large trees onto your property will involve the use of a piece of machinery called a tree spade, which is very big and mounted on the back of a very large truck. This may be challenging to get into your yard (depending on where you want the tree to go). It can also become an expensive endeavor as tree spade operators typically charge by the hour. You may also have to pay extra to repair damages made by the tree spade. Equipment this large has the potential to be destructive on your property. And if the ground is too wet, it may be questionable if the work can even be done until it freezes in the late fall or early winter. Though we’re able to coordinate the installation of large trees if that’s what you truly want, sometimes it’s actually better to opt for medium-sized trees. As we often tell our clients, bigger isn’t always better. Since large tree planting can become laborious, it’s a lot easier to coordinate the installation of a series of medium trees" "Some homeowners are surprised to learn that medium trees can have a faster rate of growth than large trees and in less time than they realize they’ll get the height they want or need. Medium-size trees will also recover more quickly from being transplanted than a large tree with a large root system. They can have a better chance at survival which is important when you’re investing heavily in tree material. When large trees are moved, much their root system can be destroyed in the process. It takes a long time for those roots to repair and there’s likely no guarantee included on their survival. That can be a big gamble on your investment. Because of medium-sized trees recovering more quickly, growth on the limbs and branches will begin years before that of a large tree. For this reason, you could end up having a medium and large tree becoming the same size in just five to seven years. The medium tree will catch up, cost less, and have a better chance of surviving." "On average, a ballpark range of what it costs to install a 12 to a 15-foot tree, would be $1200 to $1,900, depending on the tree species. That is per tree, and typically just one part of an overall landscape design that already bears the cost of having a crew travel to your site and set-up. If it’s an especially complicated job, that price could be even higher. If you’re interested in large tree planting costs, you can assume a spaded tree, 20- to 25-feet in height, could easily cost double the amount of a medium tree if not triple the cost. Purchasing multiple mid-sized trees will often serve the same purpose or ultimate goal as a large tree, and often at less cost. The installation won’t require a large tree spade or the excessive amount of labor or damage to the site."

I have moved a clematis that was in the ground only a few years and it was a big job! I mean really hard work. The root system was huge and heavy. I wonder if a new, good sized one wouldn't end up being the same size as your transplanted one, after the root system recovered. Buy one that complements your current one. Think about your time: you have to dig a new hole and prepare it for either the transplant or the new one. But the former you'll spend an hour of hard digging to get the entire plant up (and still lose a lot of roots) versus turning a pot upside down and dumping the new one in the hole. Just thinking out loud.....