Rose of Sharon transplant

[canesisters]

I have 2 large Rose of Sharon shrubs that someone sent me a few years ago. They have L.O.T.S. of babies all around them ranging in size from tiny little sprouts to plants a couple of feet tall.
I want to move some to the other side of the house and it occurred to me that with this unending rain over the past few months, it would be easy to get them up now rather than waiting until Spring when it 'might' be dryer and more of a risk of root damage.
I know that moving them during freezing weather is out. The info I've found online said that fall is a good time to transplant. So - when we get back into a bit more moderate temps - do yall think I could move them soon?

 

[flowerbug]

I have 2 large Rose of Sharon shrubs that someone sent me a few years ago. They have L.O.T.S. of babies all around them ranging in size from tiny little sprouts to plants a couple of feet tall.
I want to move some to the other side of the house and it occurred to me that with this unending rain over the past few months, it would be easy to get them up now rather than waiting until Spring when it 'might' be dryer and more of a risk of root damage.
I know that moving them during freezing weather is out. The info I've found online said that fall is a good time to transplant. So - when we get back into a bit more moderate temps - do yall think I could move them soon?

i don't really know these plants. do they still have leaves on them at all?

anyways, even with that lack of knowledge i'd say move them whenever you can if the ground isn't frozen. you may lose some of them, but it sounds like they'll make more for another try some other time... earlier is better, but i don't think you have particularly harsh winters down there. if it looks like it is getting too dry give 'em a squirt of water.

oh, and with many transplants it is good to balance the top of the plant with the bottom (i.e. if you get a plant up and there's only a bit of root you probably need to trim it back - though i think having more roots than top is ok so perhaps balance isn't the right word there... ).

 

[Ridgerunner]

Cane, often perfect can be the enemy of good enough. Yes the perfect time to transplant certain trees and bushes is when they are dormant, like those Rose of Sharon should be now. As long as they have not broken dormancy I'd think is still a really good time. If your ground were frozen fall might have been better but in Virginia it is not frozen.

One of my concerns if it is that wet is can you pack the soil around the roots without leaving voids. Voids can cause the roots to dry out.

Rose of Sharon grow a tap root. That's not something I knew, I looked that up. The older they are the deeper it will be and the harder to transplant. Since you have different sizes of small ones, I'd suggest you try to use a shovel to move the plant with an intact dirt ball. That way there should be no voids and you'll probably be forced to move a small one because of the weight of the dirt so maybe no long tap root. It might not even know it was transplanted. Those things tend to grow fairly fast.

As many offspring as you re seeing, will it be considered invasive where you are putting it?

 

[canesisters]

I'm planning to put them along the side porch to distract from the underneath - it faces the driveway and is a dark, ugly space. You bring up a good point that they seed prolifically here so I think that putting a couple of feed bags UNDER the porch to serve as weed barrier would be a good idea - or I'll be crawling under there every summer to cut down the sprouts before they push up through the deck boards. The lawn mower will keep them from spreading out of the bed and into the yard.

Yes, I was thinking that the easiest way would be to dig up shovels of the tiny ones and move them en mass. In the spring after they start growing again I can thin them if needed.

They are lovely in the summer and draw hummingbirds which will be fun to see from the den.

 

[seedcorn]

I would suggest to get some heavy plastic/rubber roll instead of feed sacks that will rot. The plastic feed sacks are woven and roots/plants can eventually get through them.

 

[catjac1975]

I have 2 large Rose of Sharon shrubs that someone sent me a few years ago. They have L.O.T.S. of babies all around them ranging in size from tiny little sprouts to plants a couple of feet tall.
I want to move some to the other side of the house and it occurred to me that with this unending rain over the past few months, it would be easy to get them up now rather than waiting until Spring when it 'might' be dryer and more of a risk of root damage.
I know that moving them during freezing weather is out. The info I've found online said that fall is a good time to transplant. So - when we get back into a bit more moderate temps - do yall think I could move them soon?

If you have so many who cares if a few don't make it? In the future you will learn how much of a nuisance the seedling are. I try to trim right after they bloom to keep the seeds from dropping. One nice thing I have don't with the is make a rose of sharon tree, like a tree rose. It take a few years together the hight they top in off and keep it pruned after every bloom. They love to be pruned way back to get lots of blooms.

 

[canesisters]

They DO like to be pruned. The ones under the kitchen window had gotten very tall & spindly and I just went out and hacked at them one afternoon thinking that they'd either die or fill in. Not long after they were FULL of blooms.

 

[ducks4you]

The easiest time to move these---and I have done it before--is right now, right after or during a heavy rain. They will pull out or pull out with a little nudging done by digging around them with a spade. I will be moving about a dozen this Spring bc they are growing in the wrong place and I need to keep trees on the west side of my fencing to keep the farmer from plowing right up against my west side fencing and damaging it. I keep sawing down limbs of volunteer trees that have grown up bc the roots keep the farmer 3 ft west of the fence. ANYway, they transplant very well. I never know what color they are bc mine grow from a lavendar ROS, but I have gotten pink and white from this tree before.
If you have transplanted your fill and missed one that has gotten too big, don't feel badly about killing it. The new ROS cultivars don't send out as many seeds as the ones that you and I own.

 

[YourRabbitGirl]

I have 2 large Rose of Sharon shrubs that someone sent me a few years ago. They have L.O.T.S. of babies all around them ranging in size from tiny little sprouts to plants a couple of feet tall.
I want to move some to the other side of the house and it occurred to me that with this unending rain over the past few months, it would be easy to get them up now rather than waiting until Spring when it 'might' be dryer and more of a risk of root damage.
I know that moving them during freezing weather is out. The info I've found online said that fall is a good time to transplant. So - when we get back into a bit more moderate temps - do yall think I could move them soon?

I agree. after the dormancy period begins, is the best time to replant a rose of Sharon shrub. Planting in the fall gives the shrub the whole winter and early spring to establish a healthy and extensive root system before the main growing season. Though fall is best, it is not critical to move the shrub at that time. happy planting!

 

[ducks4you]

DD's lost theirs and I lost one of mine last winter, when the temperatures dipped to -20 for several days. If I get around to it I will try to plant some of the seeds from the Numerous pods on the 8 volunteers growing near my garage.