I have a medium size (4 feet tall/across) variegated holly bush that I'd
like to move to a part of the garden which is in the shadow of the north
wall of the house, which gets little direct sunlight until mid-summer.
Will the holly suffer from this? Should I find somewhere else for it?

Cheers
John

In article , lalaw44
@hotmail.com says...

I have a medium size (4 feet tall/across) variegated holly bush that I'd
like to move to a part of the garden which is in the shadow of the north
wall of the house, which gets little direct sunlight until mid-summer.
Will the holly suffer from this? Should I find somewhere else for it?

Green hollies will certainly grow flower and fruit in shade (they
will self seed in deciduous woodland and under dense hedges). My
neighbour has a cracking green holly 20 ft high, in a very shady spot on
our boundary; I see more of it than he does. He has just felled the
monster ash tree beside it so I look forward to even heavier crops of
berries on the holly.

Whether a holly that size will transplant successfully, I don't know.
IME even very small all-green transplanted seedlings sulk for a year or
two before they start growing, so you may have to be patient.

Some years ago I planted a pot-grown variegated holly in the corner of
the garden. It was very slow to get going until last year
it suddenly shot up 18 unches.

Janet.

On 04/02/2016 11:40, Another John wrote:
I have a medium size (4 feet tall/across) variegated holly bush that I'd
like to move to a part of the garden which is in the shadow of the north
wall of the house, which gets little direct sunlight until mid-summer.
Will the holly suffer from this? Should I find somewhere else for it?

Cheers
John



You don't say how long it's been planted in the current spot; that will
make a big difference. If it's well established, it will be much harder
to move and resent the disturbance. If it's only been planted 2-3yrs
you stand a better chance of getting away with it.

If it were a fully green holly, it would cope perfectly well with the
shade, but a variegated holly may lose its variegation with less
sunlight. It depends how important that variegation is to you.
Also, if the holly is to be planted close to your north wall, then it
will receive much less moisture, partly due to the wall's rain-shadow
and partly due to the wall itself sucking moisture from the ground.
Your transplanted holly will be reliant on you to keep it well watered
for at least a year and preferably two years until its roots are
sufficiently well established. It may help to cut back the crown a
little to reduce water loss through transpiration.

To be honest, if it were mine and precious and I were determined to move
it, I would pot it up into a *large* pot (with as much rootball as
possible) and give it heaps of care until it's roots have more-or-less
filled the pot. Then it can be treated like any large potted plant and
moved into its new home. However, if you must transplant it in the
traditional way, do keep on top of the watering. A little bonemeal
mixed with the soil/compost as you backfill the hole will encourage root
growth.

--
Spider
On high ground in SE London
Gardening on heavy clay

Janet and Spider: thank you very much for your fulsome advice!

The holly in question has been where it is for quite a few years. I'm
not moving it very far -- just six feet further into the shade, and my
concern was/is that it will miss out on direct sun for probably nine
instead of six months of the year. The new site is very damp, and it's
not directly under the north side of the house -- just in the shade of
it.

I think I'll give it a go, and (I hope I remember!) I'll report back in
a few months time.

The reason for the transplant is that the area I'm moving it to is
pretty useless (shade all year): it will look better with a nice glossy
holly there (especially if it retains its variegation). And it will
free up a sizeable area, in a sunnier part of the garden, for my wife's
flower growing :-)

Thanks
John

In article ,
Chris Hogg wrote:

First, dig the hole into which you're going to replant the bush, a
little bigger than the anticipated root-ball. Break up the soil in the
bottom, and sprinkle generously with bone meal. If it's at all dry,
fill the hole with water, probably not necessary in winter.

Then lift and move the bush with as big a root-ball of soil as you can
manage, as follows. Drive a spade straight down, all around the trunk
and 12 inches or more out from it, to cut long roots. Then dig out a
trench beyond that, about 12 inches deep, to allow you to cut under
the root ball with the spade. Then work a sack under it, and lift the
whole thing by lifting the sack. That will go a long way to keeping
the root-ball intact.

Carry/drag the shrub to its new position by lifting/pulling the sack,
and place in the hole dug earlier, making sure the soil level is the
same as it was before, i.e. don't bury the roots deeper than they
were, or have them standing proud. When you're happy that the shrub is
standing upright and facing the way you want, carefully remove the
sack. Back-fill around the roots and firm in all round with your feet.
Water well. Mulch with compost if you have any. Keep watered during
the summer if necessary. Fill the old hole with the remaining soil.

Thank you for that Chris. Particularly the bit about the trench as a
perimeter to the cut - in the past I'just levered the rootball out as
best I could - the trench and under-cut looks a better method.

J.