Back on the Rose of Sharon topic... They are widening the road just 1/4 mile from my home. (In western North Carolina) Many Homes were bought along the roadside to be torn down to make way for the wider road. Several homes have trees and shrubs and this (summer) July, it has been a free for all! Everyone and grandmas have been going through the yards of the homes torn down and cleaning out all plants, shrubs, and trees. I personally found a home with over 11 rose of Sharon trees/bushes. Each at approx 6 feet or more in height. Now, I have so far managed to transplant only 2. The two were in very difficult soil conditions. The soil at this place is hard as nails and full of quarts stone. The only way to remove from these areas of poor digging conditions we found was to use tow straps, wrap the base with slick plastic so as not to damage cambium layer And pull out with my truck, gently. Successfully and hard to believe but we got 95% of the root ball including the tap without the strap sliding up the trunk and stripping off the bark or cambium layers. We Planted just yesterday with a mere 1/4 mile to my home it was a fast transplant. The only time roots were exposed was the time it took to dig. We covered the ball during transport. We dug the hole deep and wide. Obviously we planted as deep as it was originally. But to allow the roots ease of expansion we made lose of soil all around the ball. Far wider than existing. Now in nearly Perfect soil conditions especially in comparison to its original. I'm looking at it this morning and I have not seen any wilt so far (fingers crossed). However it is July. So I will post back very soon on its progress. Because it was literally around the corner from its original home and was only out of ground about 25-35 minutes while we dug we may have succeeded. I will inform more once and if it survives.

i had one in our backyard, which mostly only gets morning sun, that was about 5 or 6" in diameter at its base and 20-25' tall. fran knocked it over, we righted it, but it never quite was straight after that. couple more bad storms through the yrs and we gave up & cut it down. the others around it are almost as tall-15-20', but the bases are only in the 3-4" range. i believe they were probably planted many many yrs ago- more than 20, maybe even when the house was built in '61. i know the people before us wouldn't have, and we didn't, so that takes it back at least 17 or 18 yrs. don't be shocked if after you move yours you notice a few shoots coming up where it had been a few weeks or mos later. they'll come back from any part of a root. really, they are hard to kill. they're great because you can prune them to keep them in a shape or at a certain size, but you can also let them take their natural shape. they'll bloom for you either way. i keep the ones up front small by taking back the branches a 3rd or more of the way in the fall or winter. i try to stagger it in a natural way and you really can't tell when they begin growth again come spring. they bloom on new wood, so you can prune up til it leafs out & a little beyond. japanese beetles usually will take on any member of the hibiscus family happily. mine aren't bothered much in the back yard, but the few i have up front get laced up pretty good. might be a good time to move it after its leaves have dropped. then you wouldn't have to worry so much about the water situation- they are thirsty buggers. if you haven't been watering a lot or it's not in a naturally wettish area, that can stunt it.

At worst, the plant may shed some branches it's unable to support after the root reduction and move. You can prevent the plant from unselectively shedding the branches IT wants, by selectively pruning the plant to remove a common sense fraction of the canopy that YOU think the plant can do w/o and still look good. Considering the plant's natural genetic vigor, I can't imagine that you'd kill it or do it any lasting harm. Al

Thanks for the info. I also posted in the shrubs forum, and got lots of similar useful advice. The 'sharons are doing well despite our not getting any rain in the past 14 days. I've been watering them every other day and have them wrapped with burlap to minimize any sunburn. vince