Scottish Rock Garden Club Forum
General Subjects => General Forum => Topic started by: angie on February 08, 2012, 07:56:28 PM
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I have two climbing hydrangea's on my house wall. I need to remove these but would like to replant them on another wall. Do you think I would need to cut them back to ground level. I really would like to keep them at this size but just wonder if they are to big to move at this size, wouldn't want to lose them.
Here is a picture.
Angie :)
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Good luck, Angie.
I bet they are fabulous when flowering.
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It may be the wrong time for cuttings but I'd be taking quite a few for insurance purposes. Maybe if there's no great hurry, you could try wrenching them now and removing later, or do one now and leave the other until you're sure the first is regrowing. They do look well established to be moving them. Not the easiest plant to get going so don't take too many risks with this lovely plant.
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Lesley I have to remove them now. We are putting on a small extension on to the gable end of the house and I have to move a lot of plants. I already dug out some big clumps of Trillium's today. I didn't want to do this but my husband said the scaffolding will go on top of them. I have been digging out plants all day. We also have two large acers to remove but might have to leave them for the men to do. Derek and I are to old for digging out big shrubs ::) I can't believe that I have so much bulbs planted in that area.
I have just potted up the plants and once the structure is completed I will be able to get them back into their home. I have told the builder that I want this job done quick ( hubby is builder ) I want to have all my plants back before the summer. Lets see what happens. Do you believe in miracles.
Angie :)
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Good luck, Angie.
I bet they are fabulous when flowering.
They are only white flowers but I do like them and the blackbirds always nest in them.
Angie :)
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Do you believe in miracles.
Angie :)
Not always.... but I do believe in Derek :)
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They are only white flowers but I do like them and the blackbirds always nest in them.
Angie :)
Angie, I have a friend in Moncton who has one on the end of her house.
It is breathtaking when in flower.
I would kill to have one but unfortunately, I don't have a place to grow it and doubt I can wait 7 years for flowers.
Really hope yours are ok after the move.
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Hi Angie,
I'm certain it can be done once the ground is frost free, provided you don't snap the branches off while digging up and transporting.
First you prepare the receiving planting hole and hooks or wires to attach them to. Then, just cut them back a bit, say a foot or less, dig them up, have someone hold the branches together or tie them to a pole for transport so that they don't flop and break. Then plant and re-attach. You'll have to tie them in quite securely at first.
Make sure they are always moist. And if they don't sprout at the ends, you can always prune them in the spring. :)
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Helen - You may be interested to know that my H. petiolaris seeds all over the garden. The seedlings stay evergreen until they're a couple of years old. The old vine is about 20m up an elm tree and in every direction. I am still picking up flower heads that fall and blow around like tumbleweed. Say so and I'll dig seedlings for you in Spring.
Angie you may want to ball & burlap them even if just transporting across the garden. I find the rootballs fall apart when joustled, much as Buxus does but that may be our mineral soil.
johnw
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Well all that from Maren and John sounds like good advice Angie. I can't imagine you'll get away without severely pruning the root system, they're such big plants in your picture.
Have a large drink of something and an even larger cake of choclate waiting ready for when the job is done. You'll deserve/need both. ;D
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Thanks for the advice. I will take a picture of me sitting with my coffee and chocolate cake whilst hubby digs the plants out ;D oh he has a bad back so guess who will be doing the digging.
Good advice about wrapping them up whilst transporting them. Hope the weather will be nice next week as hope to get it done then.
Angie :)
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Helen - You may be interested to know that my H. petiolaris seeds all over the garden. The seedlings stay evergreen until they're a couple of years old. The old vine is about 20m up an elm tree and in every direction. I am still picking up flower heads that fall and blow around like tumbleweed. Say so and I'll dig seedlings for you in Spring.
Angie you may want to ball & burlap them even if just transporting across the garden. I find the rootballs fall apart when joustled, much as Buxus does but that may be our mineral soil.
johnw
John, thanks muchly for the offer but I honestly don't have a place I could place one, unless it could grow up a birch or cedar.
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Angie, I'd be very suspicious of that bad back if I were you. Derek is a golfer isn't he? So how can he play if he has a bad back? Make sure the bad back and the digging jobs don't just happen to be on the same day. ;D
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Angie, I'd be very suspicious of that bad back if I were you. Derek is a golfer isn't he? So how can he play if he has a bad back? Make sure the bad back and the digging jobs don't just happen to be on the same day. ;D
Lesley I am going to show hubby your post when he gets home. He is at the golf driving range at the moment, hitting more balls.
Cant understand why anyone would enjoy hitting balls out into space in a cold freezing wind :-X
Angie :)
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I did this in my mother's garden. There was one Hydrangea, approximately 5m high, that was moved to another side of the house. We only managed to dig out some 15-20 l of root, and the Hydrangea was cut back to 1.5m. The plant is just fine after that - although it took a couple of years until it recovered.
So don't cut too much.. Good luck! :)
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Hello Siri, welcome to the forum. 8)
If the hydrangea you moved was able to make a recovery from the move with around 15 to 20 litres worth of roots then I may feel brave enough to go help Angela move hers..... I thought it might be necessary to dig much more... and I'm getting too old for that! ;) ;D
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Thanks for the welcome, Maggi! :)
I didn't expect the Hydrangea to survive, but it did. The move was about 6-8 years ago, so I don't think I have any pictures - some PCs and crashes since that time.. But the climber is safe and sound.
Edit: I might add that my retired mom is eager at tending her plants - so the Hydrangea probably had perfect moisture at all times.
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Good point Siri, the after care of any plant that is moved is key to its survival. I believe that attention to aftercare is more important than timing for successful transplanting.
Luckily, Angela is devoted to her plants so she will be caring for them like babies!
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Angi, I moved one when I first came to this house because it was south facing and looking sorry for itself. Now its on the north side of the house its romped away. But mine was not as big as yours when I did that. I do think you'll end up losing the top growth though, and probably will take a few years to get back to the way you like it. Good luck!
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Siri nice to have you on the forum and nice to hear that your Hydrangea survived. Still haven't attempted to remove the Hydrangea. I cut them back last year knowing that they would have to be removed. I tried digging one out but struggled as the roots were just like a mat.
I did on the other hand manage to remove some plants in the garden.
Chris these hydrangea will be getting moved to the back of the house which is north so thats good to hear that your plant is happy.
Here are some pictures, it looks such a mess. I hate having to move these plants.
First one is the large Acer's that had to be removed.
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This is a big project! I hope your Acer will survive and like his new place. Isn't it a great tree? We have a large one too and I specially like it in spring, when the new leaves emerge.
Lina.
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Oh Angie! You probably don't want to hear this but I really liked that part of your garden. Although I'm sure your extension and redevelopment will match the quality of the rest of your garden as it matures over the next couple of years.
If only I lived closer I could have given you a hand to get those hydrangeas out ;)
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Graham I liked that part of the garden as well. This is why we have never did the extension until now. I kept thinking I didn't want to dig out the Acer's. We would have lost our planning if we didn't start this year, it seemed such a waste of money if we didn't go ahead. I really don't know how things will work out with what is left but Derek promised to get the garden sorted out before we do the inside of the extension.
Pity you didn't live closer you could have designed the new layout. I thought about having a paved area and just using my granite troughs. One thing is there is now a little bit less to weed ;D I liked the way you arranged your troughs and would like do something similar.
Lina I hope the Acer's survive. The large Acer that I replanted across the path was my mums, it was large when we took it over four years ago. I am keeping my fingers crossed that it survives. We took a huge rootball with it. Just to lift it across the path it took four men. Derek and I are now at the age that things like this would kill us. Now to everyone that are still under 50 get everything the way you want as the minute you reach fifty its down hill all the way, eyes are first to go but that's not to bad as you don't see the dust and the wrinkles anymore ;D
Angie :)
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Just to lift it across the path it took four men.
What a bit of luck... you don't need me to dig then..... ::) ;)
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Angie, in September 2010, in a gale, a large Norway Spruce came crashing down across the roof of our house. Apart from the damage caused, power and phone lines snapped, rafters smashed etc, the thing that really upset me was that, attached to the tree was my pride and joy, 5-6 metres of Hydrangea petiolaris. It was unintentionally wrenched! The guys who came to cut up the tree were threatened with all sorts of things if they damaged the hydrangea. Surveying the damage they clearly thought I was crazy to worry about a bit of greenery. David and I got out that evening and chipped it off the trunk and tied it back. A few days later three of us managed to extricate the roots - some broken and all without soil. We carried it to a 'temporary' home where it has come through with flying colours. Even had 2 flowers last year.
I am sure they are fairly hardy and as you were able to plan the removal it will survive.
Good luck,
Susan
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Just to lift it across the path it took four men.
What a bit of luck... you don't need me to dig then..... ::) ;)
Not this time Maggi ;D ;D ;)
Susan, glad to hear that your Hydrangea survived. Must have been so much damage with the spruce coming down. We had two huge Scots pine trees 10ft from the house. When we had gale force winds I always worried that they would fall onto the house. We finally got permission from the land owner to fell the trees. I was relieved to see them go.
Angie :)
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Angie, when we moved up here in '95 we dug up and moved two quite good sized acers. they are relatively shallow rooted and took to the conditions here like a duck to water, so I have great hope that yours will succeed. Fingers crossed....
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Angie, when we moved up here in '95 we dug up and moved two quite good sized acers. they are relatively shallow rooted and took to the conditions here like a duck to water, so I have great hope that yours will succeed. Fingers crossed....
Chris thats good to hear. Last night it was real windy, I thought it might have blown the tree out of its new place. I have dug up so many bulbs, I never new I had so much.
Angie :)
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Angie ,to increase your chances you can spray your hydrangea with a antitranspirant or to put a light shade net over it.It will also reduce the air mouvement and so the need for water.
How much you will have to cut it back will depend of how much roots you 'll be able to dig up.As long as the balance is fine it'll be ok.Good luck and don't strain your back!
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Thanks John, Hopefully we should get them dug out at the beginning of the week. My husband broke my favourite spade the other day. He got me a new handle and promised he would have it sorted for me. I hate when he uses my spade >:(
Angie :)
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Hydrangea removed and now in their new place. Had to cut them back more than l had hoped to do. Lets hope they survive. Now what do I do with all the stones, anyone want to come and build me a rockery. My friends got a shock at how little a soil I have here. I told them it's a windy spot here and my topsoil must have been blown away ::) ;D
Angie :)
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Angie, looks as if they will be busy for a while. But the stones look great! You should use them again. Who will move them for you? You need an elephant!
Lina.
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Lina luckily enough we have some strong young men that work for my husband. We about killed ourselves digging out the climbers, so much roots. I remember the days when we would have easily shifted those stones ourselves. Our heads still think that we can but the body no longer can ;D I hope that we can do something with them but not sure. I need to make my garden less work so I have to be careful in what I do. Wish I could turn back the clock and be forty again ;D
Angie :)
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Wish you lived next door Angie, those are awesome rocks to work with. You could build your own mountain....
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Wow, Angie - when you told me about the rocks in a private email, I had not imagined anything on such a vast scale! What must the rest of your garden be like? It does not give the impression of little soil and no rocks. You once said an older building had been on the site - could the the rocks be demolished rubble from it?
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Hi Maureen
Some of those stones had to be snapped before we could get them out. When we bought our house it was called Lochend Cottage, I am sure there was a spelling mistake and it should have been Rockend Cottage as you can see by the picture the ground it just rock with a little topsoil. I think I have a good bit more soil now, with all the plants I have bought over the years I have introduced a couple of tons of soil from the pots.
It was a hard dig for the men. I wasn't going to allow a digger into my garden and squash all my plants. I do feed them well at lunchtime, they need their strength ;D
Chris, I have a whole Pony paddock of stones from when we built our house 18 years ago. Some are really nice and have aged lovely.
Angie :)
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Aren't strong young men wonderful! ;D
Angie, I'm sure you Acers will be fine. At one of my most favourite Australian gardens, not far from Otto's place, and called Cloudhill, two large Japanese mapeles were moved a few years ago to sit either side of a new pathway. At the time the maples were over 100 year old I believe and suffered no ill effects. Nowadays they are underplanted with hepaticas, cyclamen and similar things. I'll post the picture if I can find it.
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Lesley lets hope the Acer's will be all right, one good thing is we get plenty of rain this time of year. Nothing done this weekend, rained most of the time :'(
Angie :)
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Hi Angie,
those rocks look wonderful, make the ones Darren and I had to dig out of our garden look like pebbles. :o
How on earth did you dig out your pond? :D
Susan
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Hi Angie,
those rocks look wonderful, make the ones Darren and I had to dig out of our garden look like pebbles. :o
How on earth did you dig out your pond? :D
Susan
Very strong young men ;D They went down 6ft down. I did feel guilty as it was really hard just lifting the stones out of the hole. Once the pond was finished the men thought their hard labour was worth it. After this there is no more getting done. I am getting to old for all this, this watching tires me out ;D
Angie :)
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Angie,
You should have got them to put the rocks on the other side of the foundations then got Derek to build a conservatory round them. Add compost then plant it up and what Derek thought was a conservatory is now an alpine house. ;)
Those rocks would make a seriously good rock garden. :)
Graham
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Graham I wouldn't dare :o Hey where do you get all the good ideas from. ;D I never thought of that.
I did say to Derek the other day that I could do with another greenhouse. He said I need to have a major clear out of plants :o He said I have to many pots. I did give him a reply but I can't post what I said on the forum ;D
Angie :)
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Just ask him how many golf balls he's got Angie.....
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Chris one thing for sure is that he has lost more golf balls than I have plants. And my plants are a lot cheaper than his golf clubs, golf trips and off course his golf membership. Whats our membership here ;D
Angie :)
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A mere bagatelle Angie, compared with a golf club membership. ;D
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He said I need to have a major clear out of plants :o He said I have to many pots. I did give him a reply but I can't post what I said on the forum ;D
Angie :)
There is no such thing as too many plants. :)
Can you imagine how difficult it is with two gardeners trying to share the same garden especially when they like different plants. :)
There's many a time I've gone to pop a perennial in only to discover someone has hidden a load of bulbs. Darren blames the squirrel for moving things about. :-X :)
Susan
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He said I need to have a major clear out of plants :o He said I have to many pots. I did give him a reply but I can't post what I said on the forum ;D
Angie :)
There is no such thing as too many plants. :)
Can you imagine how difficult it is with two gardeners trying to share the same garden especially when they like different plants. :)
There's many a time I've gone to pop a perennial in only to discover someone has hidden a load of bulbs. Darren blames the squirrel for moving things about. :-X :)
Susan
I'm saying nowt.....
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Is this our first forum domestic then????
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Is this our first forum domestic then????
Not at all Chris. There isn't a smiley for 'looks innocent', though the eye-rolling one would do at a pinch :)
Anyway - I'm famous for saying nowt. I inherited some Yorkshire taciturnity from my granny. Ask any of my colleagues and they'll tell you.
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Can you imagine how difficult it is with two gardeners trying to share the same garden especially when they like different plants. :)
That reminds me of Dot and Mike Smith at the late (and missed) Hythe Alpines, they each had their own beds in the garden and space in the glasshouses ;D
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My husband and I share a very small garden. But we both have our own part.
Otherwise it would be war! >:(
Lina.
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Susan and I have an informal division:
The area from the rock garden down to the greenhouse (including the plunge frames) is 'mine' but Susan often overwinters plants in the frames if she has not been able to plant them out yet.
The area nearest the house, which is more 'gardeny', is Susan's. I confess to sometimes helping the squirrel plant bulbs in here when my pots become overcrowded and Susan is not looking. ;)
The woodland area at the very end of the garden is the 'neutral zone' which is shared, as is the fruit cage adjacent to it.
Susan also looks after the smaller front garden, though this also has many bulbs in it...... funny how they get everywhere... and in my defence - Susan can't resist those 'fill a dumper truck with daffodil bulbs for 50p' offers in the garden centre ;D
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In the days when my husband did gardening he was always filling up spaces. He thought oh there is a bit of brown soil. I could put a geranium there. Right on top of my trilliums or something else that was special. I don't know how many times he looked up to see if I was watching and there was a bulb stuck on his fork. Now that he has found golf he has no time to garden. Never thought I would see the benefits of him playing golf.
I have secretly moved most of his geraniums to the back borders. He hasn't noticed yet ;D
Darren I like how you use the word MINE but I also like how you are willing to share the space even if its just for a little time. Susan sounds like me, daffodils on special offer I can't resist. I have bought many a bulb that is on special offer or reduced. I then pot them up keep then till the following year and give them to my friends as a gift. They are always so chuffed.
Angie :)
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I do that with shrivelled up Primula denticulata at the supermarkets and such places, can't resist taking them and trying to make them live again. Must be a funny quirk of mine I think. Once they are thriving I'm not bothered about them really....
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Can you imagine how difficult it is with two gardeners trying to share the same garden especially when they like different plants. :)
Susan
As bad as two good cooks in the same kitchen I imagine. :D
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Can you imagine how difficult it is with two gardeners trying to share the same garden especially when they like different plants. :)
Susan
As bad as two good cooks in the same kitchen I imagine. :D
Now I can't make any comments on that. I HATE COOKING, I can't cook, I don't want to cook but I LOVE EATING. ;D ;D ;D ;D
Angie :)
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I hesitate to ask but how is Derek fed? Sorry, that sounds like maybe through a tube or something, but you know what I mean - I hope. ;D I love eating too so can't imagine not cooking because then I'd not have control over WHAT I ate.
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Maybe Derek likes cooking? :-\
Or lots of take-away meals. ;D
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Maybe Derek likes cooking? :-\
Or lots of take-away meals. ;D
I know Darren enjoys cooking .... ;)
When we got married I was 'advised' to make a hash of one or two meals to 'encourage' my husband to learn to cook. ::)
Not that I needed to mind, as he already cooked for himself at home.
My brother-in-law however specialises in takeaway :-X.
It works both ways mind, some of the lads I used to work with deliberately made a mess of the chores so that their partners / wives wouldn't ask them to do it again. ;D
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I hesitate to ask but how is Derek fed? Sorry, that sounds like maybe through a tube or something, but you know what I mean - I hope. ;D I love eating too so can't imagine not cooking because then I'd not have control over WHAT I ate.
All I can say is Derek isn't a fussy eater. Even when we have a carry out meal things go wrong with me. Our friends said they would pick up a Chinese carry out and I thought right get the oven on to keep the main meal warm whilst we have our starters. I put the oven up full thinking once they arrive I will turn it off. I forgot, popped the food into the oven and sat down to have our starters. When I opened the oven the containers had all melted. I have never lived that episode down.
Most of my friends say we will just go out for a meal or you come over to me. I wonder why. Forgot to say my first cake I baked went on fire, oh and that was the last cake I ever made.
Angie :)
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Angie, I am sure you have other qualities!!!!
Lina.