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Transplanting Hydrangea

last month

last modified: last month

Moved some Hydrangeas around

I dug out some old and planted in some new....

The old, I ended up root washing it, pruning some roots to shoehorn into some 25G pots for now till their fate to be decided.

I was for sure convinced that it would be stressed. I did break some buds on some existing canes while rootwashing it during this manhandling tedious process.. I was being gentle as one could but at some point while you're dealing with the entire mass...turning it, teasing out roots, root washing, hands soaked, wet cold workwear, you reach the point where you don't care as much...and here I am trying to get the task done and not that overly concern about bud breakage anymore. Most survived if that matters.

I did require a few, I need to catch my breath moment breaks. Lifting them around definately was no joy.

Even while it was mid-dormant, I was convinced the ones that got transplanted would be extremely stressed . Sometimes we baby our plants too much in all things gardering. Too much pruning, coddling, watering........ya know. Just eyeballing todays progression. Pleasantly surprised so-far, no signs of stress. Even new growth from the crown on them - decent leafing that appears firm with what appears to be a good sized leaf. I was expecting opposite results post transplant

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Transplanting Hydrangea
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Comments (2)
It is hard to tell. It depends on how much of the root ball moved to the new location. The more one moves, the less transplant shock there is. There are times when giving it a crew cut would help and that is when many of the roots were cut and the fibruous ones that absorb water cannot supply as much water as the plant above the ground needs. I would monitor the shrub, especially the soil moisture, and prune if you notice a lot of the leaves suffering. Forget about bloomage this year. Maintain 3-4" of mulch to help and do not fertilize until next year as the shrub will be stressed now and again sometimes during the worst of the summer months. I know how you feel. I had a crew come work on the roof and they moved some azaleas and a lilac without telling me. Both died. Why is it that people do not even think of using a darn telephone to check if their plan is ok??? Luis PS - I assumed that the new location for the plants is adequate.... morning sun/afternoon shade or dappled sun; soil drains well; not too windy; etc
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Transplant hydrangea now?
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Comments (4)
Free? Who can pass up free? Do you know what type they are? I would prep the holes ahead of time, cut them back some, dig the root ball as big as possible, wrap in burlap (available at HD, garden centers, etc.) and plant them that day. If you transport them in an open vehicle (like a truck or open trailer) you MUST cover them with a tarp or something or the wind will dry them up to nothing. Buy a dripper hose ahead of time (HD has the flat ones, very cheap) and use that to keep them well watered. Heck I move a mature butterfly bush right before the heat wave last week and it looks like it will make it. Hydrangea are much easier to move!
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Struggling transplanted hydrangeas
Q
Comments (3)
I'd agree with joanne's advice. The plants are suffering from a combination of transplant shock (being moved in the prime growing season) and most likely an insufficiently large rootball. That's caused all the existing growth to die off (not enough roots to support it). Hard for mature shrubs with compromised root systems to move water/nutrients through all that stem height to get to what foliage has survived. Although you will probably lose most of next season's bloom, I'd cut back now and continue to water well. And I also think once a week is probably not enough, especially as we are now in our dry period here in the PNW and will remain so until well into September. This will reduce the stress on the plants and they should respond with a lot of new basal growth. We do this fairly often at the nursery on plants that are damaged or missed watering and they respond rapidly. I'd also mulch the root zones with a thick layer of organic mulch - compost would be my choice - to retain soil moisture and lower soil temperatures and to provide a natural, slow release nutrient source.
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Cut back struggling transplanted hydrangeas
Q
Comments (2)
Thanks. That was my gut instinct, as it is difficult to tell what is still living. Some branches that looked dead actually had new growth sprouting further up the plant that I didn't notice until I'd already cut it off. Any idea what variety they might be? Or are they too sickly to ID?
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