I have a 10 year old Camellia, just coming into flower.Due to pending
building work it may be necessary to move it.
Can it be moved this part of the year ? Should I cut it back or try and get
a good root ball?
I do not want to loose it.
Peter.

On Fri, 1 Apr 2005 00:33:25 +0100, "Peter Coddington"
wrote:

I have a 10 year old Camellia, just coming into flower.Due to pending
building work it may be necessary to move it.
Can it be moved this part of the year ? Should I cut it back or try and get
a good root ball?
I do not want to loose it.
Peter.


Under normal circumstances I would recommend autumn for moving, having
first pruned the root system in Spring, after flowering. Root pruning
encourages a compact root ball to form, but if it's an emergency you
won't have time for that. If you are forced to move it soon, I would
do the following.

Water it well, a day or so before you actually intend to move it. Then
'hat-rack' prune it, i.e. cut off virtually all the smaller branches,
shoots and greenery, leaving a bare skeleton much reduced in size
(about half). It's a pretty drastic process. Then dig a trench around
it about 18 inches or so out from the trunk and start to cut under the
root ball, such as it is. Work a strong piece of sacking under it as
you go (hessian was good, but I guess woven synthetic these days, such
as used for the 'dumpy bags' builders get their sand delivered in).
Eventually you will have separated the root ball from the soil and the
camellia will be standing on the sacking. Gather the sacking around
the trunk and tie it well, so that the root ball and it's soil are as
tightly contained and supported as is reasonably possible. You can now
carry or drag the plant to its new site, but if you can get it onto a
sledge of some sort, say a piece of corrugated iron sheeting, or even
another polythene sack, it will save your back and disturb the roots
least.

Prepare the new site in advance by digging in plenty of organic matter
such as leafmould (preferably) or peat or acid compost. Make a shallow
hole the same size and depth as the hole the camellia came out of.
Water the hole and place the camellia in it, making sure the top of
the root ball is level with the surrounding soil, and certainly no
deeper. Remove the sacking as carefully as possible so as not to
disturb the roots, and fill in with more peat-enriched soil. Firm
well, water well and mulch generously with more leafmould or peat.
Water regularly, like twice a week, for several weeks and especially
in dry weather, and if you can arrange some shade when it's sunny, it
won't do any harm.

The reason for the severe pruning is to greatly reduce transpiration
and take stress off the impaired root system. The camellia will take
several months before any new shoots start to appear, and you'll
probably think you've killed it, but they're fairly resilient and
usually survive. Camellias in general will take pruning right down to
a stump and still regrow without trouble. When it does start to shoot,
you will probably have to rub out a fair number of them when they get
an inch or so long. Be selective, to encourage a good shape. It will
take a year or two to get back into a flowering rhythm, but at least
you won't have lost it.

I've successfully moved several camellias in the past, but not at this
time of year, but if you take appropriate precautions I don't see why
it shouldn't be OK.


--
Chris

E-mail: christopher[dot]hogg[at]virgin[dot]net

"Chris Hogg" wrote in message
...
On Fri, 1 Apr 2005 00:33:25 +0100, "Peter Coddington"
wrote:

I have a 10 year old Camellia, Can it be moved this part of the year ?
Peter.
SNIP
Chris Hogg replied.
Under normal circumstances I would recommend autumn for moving,
Water it well, a day or so before you actually intend to move it. Then
'hat-rack' prune it, i.e. cut off virtually all the smaller branches,
shoots and greenery, leaving a bare skeleton much reduced in size
--SNIP
Chris
Chris
Many thanks for your most interesting and detailed instructions on how to
move the Cameillia this part of the year., will now have to give this
further thought!
Peter

On Sat, 2 Apr 2005 00:12:58 +0100, "Peter Coddington"
wrote:



"Chris Hogg" wrote in message
.. .
On Fri, 1 Apr 2005 00:33:25 +0100, "Peter Coddington"
wrote:

I have a 10 year old Camellia, Can it be moved this part of the year ?
Peter.
SNIP
Chris Hogg replied.
Under normal circumstances I would recommend autumn for moving,
Water it well, a day or so before you actually intend to move it. Then
'hat-rack' prune it, i.e. cut off virtually all the smaller branches,
shoots and greenery, leaving a bare skeleton much reduced in size
--SNIP
Chris
Chris
Many thanks for your most interesting and detailed instructions on how to
move the Cameillia this part of the year., will now have to give this
further thought!
Peter

You're welcome. Just another small point I forgot to mention: when
you've got the root ball well bagged up and you're ready to lift and
move it, pull on the bag not on the camellia.


--
Chris

E-mail: christopher[dot]hogg[at]virgin[dot]net

Chris Hogg wrote:
You're welcome. Just another small point I forgot to mention: when
you've got the root ball well bagged up and you're ready to lift and
move it, pull on the bag not on the camellia.
You know, all afternoon I've been reading that as 'Camilla' without the
context allerting me to my error...