How To Transplant A Hydrangea | Dormant Transplanting Shrub, by Dee's Yard on YouTube. 4 min 22 s.
- Video length
- 4 min 22 s
- Time to do it
- 1 to 2 hours
- Difficulty
- Medium
- Steps
- 8
What you need
Steps
Choose the new spot first. Pick a place with the right light and enough room for the shrub at its full size, and check that the soil drains well.
Water the shrub deeply two or three days before you dig if the ground is dry. Moist soil holds the root ball together far better than dusty soil.
Cut the stems back by about a third with clean pruners, then tie the rest together with twine so they stay out of your way while you dig.
Dig a trench around the shrub just outside the spread of the branches, about 12 inches from the stems, using a trenching shovel. Work all the way around the plant.
Push the shovel under the root ball at an angle and lift it onto a tarp. Keep as much soil on the roots as you can and do not let them dry out.
Dig the new hole twice as wide as the root ball and no deeper. Set the shrub in so the top of the root ball sits level with the soil around it.
Backfill with the soil you dug out, firm it in with your hands and water slowly until the hole is soaked. This settles soil around the roots and pushes out air pockets.
Spread two to three inches of mulch over the bare soil, keeping it a few inches clear of the stems. Water well every week or so through the first summer.
Tips and common mistakes
Move the shrub while it is fully dormant, from late fall to late winter, so it loses less water through its leaves.
Get a helper or slide the root ball onto a tarp and drag it. A wet root ball from a large shrub can be too heavy to lift safely on your own.
Keep the crown at the same height it grew at before. Planting it deeper than it sat can rot the stems.
Skip fertilizer at planting time. Wait until spring, then feed with a slow organic shrub fertilizer.
Questions
When is the best time to move a hydrangea?
Late fall to late winter, after the leaves drop and the plant is dormant. The roots still settle in over winter and the shrub wakes up already in its new spot.
How big should the new hole be?
Twice as wide as the root ball and the same depth. A wider hole loosens soil for new roots, while a deeper one can bury the crown.
Will it flower the first year after transplanting?
It may skip a season or bloom only lightly while it rebuilds its roots. Keep watering and full flowering usually returns in the second year.
This guide was drafted from the video's details and general task knowledge. It has not been checked against the full video. Check the video and relevant product instructions before following a procedure. Report a correction.
