Ground Breaking Banter - Rick
Rick often jokes that his plants have been moved so many times that they’re eligible for frequent flyer miles – and fall is an ideal time to move most anything in your garden that’s getting too big for its spot, not happy in its current conditions, or just not working out the way you thought it would aesthetically.
At this time of year, of course, plants are starting to go dormant so the energy needed to grow stems, leaves, and flowers can all instead go to growing roots. On top of that, the cooler temperatures and shorter days are ideal for root growth, which continues until temperatures start dipping past the 50°F mark or thereabouts. So fall-transplanted perennials, shrubs, and small trees enjoy ideal conditions for recovering from being moved as well as a very long window for recovery until they need to grow again.
Join us at the YouTube link above or on your favorite podcast platform to hear our whole conversation on transplanting in fall, or as Rick likes to say in this episode’s Lim-A-Rick, “bust a move”:
I tried to cram a 10 foot plant
In an area far too scant
What was I thinking?
That space seems to be shrinking
and now it grows on a slant.
That bush it has to go
Its boundaries overflow
I think a new location
Will be that plant’s salvation
Before it starts to snow
A new location would behoove
To let this shrub find its groove
Its eventual size wasn’t foreseen
It’s growing through my window screen
It’s got to bust a move.
Plants on Trial: Tater Tot arborvitae
Overall, shrubs are some of the easiest plants to move around. Many people are surprised to find that they are quite shallow-rooted so don’t require a great deal of digging to get them out of the ground. Unlike trees, they tend not to put out thick, heavy anchoring roots, and if there is any kind of substantial damage to their root system in digging them, it can readily be compensated for simply by removing a few stems or pruning the plant and the plant will still recover quickly.
One of the features that can make something tricky to transplant is if it grows with a tap root, and few if any shrubs form tap roots. But other unusual root features can also complicate transplanting, like the thick, fleshy, ropy roots of woody clematis like Diamond Ball clematis, today’s plant on trial. Diamond Ball is one of our most popular woody clematis varieties, thanks to its large, heavily doubled flowers with an unusual icy violet blue tone.
You’ve heard me talk about the roots of clematis before, because they really are remarkable and something you have to see to believe. Fortunately, if you plant one, you will get an up close look at how unusual they are, because the roots will be circling the outside of the container. They aren’t tap-rooted exactly, their roots are more like an octopus with the plant itself as the center and the roots forming tentacles around it. These roots really spread out and go deep, plus they’re rather brittle, making transplanting a clematis a very difficult proposition. On top of that, those thick, fleshy roots also take a lot of the plant’s energy to produce and grow, so recovery will be slow.
But of course, we all garden in the real world, where we make mistakes and change our minds or just get tired of something, so it can be done – you just need to know what to expect and be prepared to deal with the plant either not making it, or being so set back that you kind of wish it hadn’t made it so you’d have a good reason to just rip it out. As such, if you’re going to plant a clematis, do your best to make it a permanent home, and of course, take the spacing instructions seriously so you don’t create a situation that requires moving.
One of my favorite ways to enjoy clematis is rambling through a neighboring shrub. Sure, there are all sorts of interesting structures you can buy or build, but I love the way that a beautiful clematis in flower dresses up otherwise work-a-day plants like arborvitae. The best planting of Diamond Ball clematis I have ever seen was several years ago here in our trial garden, when it was planted near a Black Lace elderberry and allowed to meander through it. The icy blue color of the clematis flowers with the black foliage of the elderberry was a fabulous combination. This is also a great way to get more plants per square foot, especially if you have a small space, and don’t worry about the roots – they’ll sort everything out on their own. Plus, the elderberry itself offers some shade for the roots, which they prefer, as evidenced by the old adage for clematis, feet in the shade, head in the sun.
Diamond Ball clematis climbs to roughly 4-5’ tall and is hardy in USDA zones 4-9. In my experience, clematis tend to be pretty deer resistant. Well-drained soil is essential.
If you’d like to add Diamond Ball clematis – or any of the 320+ Proven Winners ColorChoice Shrubs – to your garden or landscape, you’ll find a list of local retailers here.
Gardening Mail Bag - Stacey
Summerific hibiscus, and any perennial hibiscus (Hibiscus moschuetos and hybrids) can be moved in either spring or fall, and if you research this question on other sites, you’re going to find passionate arguments for one over the other. However, my choice – and in fact, what I have just done myself – is to move them in fall. This still allows plenty of time for root growth and risks less damage to the buds; it also gives them a longer recovery period so you can hope to have some good growth and maybe even flowering the following summer. Whenever you decide to move them, however, be aware that they have very heavy, thick, extensive root systems, and digging them takes a good deal of work. In my experience, though, they recover well and fairly quickly, so all the effort is ultimately worth it.
If given the choice, always opt to move the shrub over the tree. Though both are woody plants, shrubs tend to have spread out, fibrous root systems that are easy to dig and recover well from having been dug, whereas trees typically form a taproot and/or very thick anchor roots that not only make it harder to dig and replant but also resent disturbance. When transplanting a shrub, always try to prepare the new spot as much as possible before digging the plant up, and use a soft rope, old nylons or tights, or something else to bundle all the stems into a “ponytail” for easier digging and moving.
Yes, and it’s one of my absolute favorite plants ever – it’s bottlebrush buckeye, Aesculus parviflora. This is not a Proven Winners variety, just a fantastic native shrub that is being grown in our trial garden, but if you have space for it, it definitely merits consideration! In mid-summer, it explodes in long, elegant racemes of fragrant white flowers that are crawling with pollinators. When they fade, they become buckeye nuts that are just cool to collect and play with. Again, this is a huge plant, which is why I sadly don’t have one in my garden, though I surely wish I had space for it. Thanks for asking!
Do you have a question for us? We’re happy to help! E-mail us or use the contact tab above. Due to high volume, we may not get to your question, so if you need an answer quickly, please reach out via the Proven Winners website.
Branching News - Rick
- One in four Americans consider moving to be a more stressful endeavor than landing a plane in an emergency.
- An Idaho man walked over 1,100 feet with running lawn mower on his chin, breaking a 2017 world record of 234 feet, 7 inches, set in 2017 by miles by walking 1,178 feet, 5.73 inches.
- Learn all about one of America’s first nurseries, Prince Nursery in Flushing, New York, founded in 1737. A British man broke a Guinness World Record with a 13-pound root vegetable called a celeriac.
- Wondering what the “Leave the Leaves” movement is all about – besides, as Rick said, that “raking up is hard to do?” Learn all about this public outreach program that encourages people to leave fallen leaves and plant parts standing over winter to support native insects.
