Transplant Sarcococca - Ask Extension
I would like to transplant a couple Sarcococca plants but they are too large to dig up and move without
Power equipment. I would like to try to move...
Knowledgebase
Transplant Sarcococca #874507
Asked June 24, 2024, 5:23 PM EDT
I would like to transplant a couple Sarcococca plants but they are too large to dig up and move without
Power equipment. I would like to try to move them as smaller plants. What is the correct way to do this?
Baltimore County Maryland
Expert Response
Which species of Sarcococca are you growing, the groundcover (Sarcococca hookeriana) or one of the non-spreading shrubs (Sarcococa confusa or S. rusficolia)? We ask because they might respond differently to attempts to split them into smaller clumps. We don't have direct experience with trying to divide Sarcococca, but the spreading form (hookeriana) will probably be easier to move in pieces smaller than the whole than the other two forms. For evergreen plants, often the ideal transplant time is either spring or very early autumn, to give the roots enough time to re-establish before having to tolerate winter soil surface freezing.
Miri
Miri
I believe this is the non spreading shrub, about 9 years old. I can send a pic if you wish.
Mid / late September is when I’m planning on doing this. Any advice you can offer is much appreciated.
Thank you for the clarification. Photos could help us make an assessment, but in the meantime, we don't have experience trying to move this species of shrub in more than one piece, but you can experiment if you're willing to try. Division might stress the plant and set it back in growth, potentially causing some branch dieback before it gradually recovers as roots regrow, so if you're wary of this, the best approach is to move it intact as one shrub. If too large to do yourself, perhaps you could hire a landscape contractor to dig and move it. We doubt the root ball would need to be more than about 18 or so inches across and maybe 12 inches deep, but it's just a guess without knowing what height and width the shrub is currently.
For shrub moves in autumn, you could try root-pruning it now, but that might not be nearly enough time to be very useful; ideally the root-pruning process is done 6 to 12 months ahead of transplant time. (Its goal is to cut some roots with a shovel, without digging up the plant yet, to stimulate the plant to regrow more in the size of area that will eventually be dug, but root regrowth takes time.)
Otherwise, division would probably just involve first digging-up the entire clump (it will be harder to split off divisions with minimal damage otherwise) and then splitting it into as few pieces as possible using a garden fork or spade to splice or pry it into sections, with enough roots and stems attached to each clump. (There is no set number of these, just retain as many roots as possible in the process.)
Miri
For shrub moves in autumn, you could try root-pruning it now, but that might not be nearly enough time to be very useful; ideally the root-pruning process is done 6 to 12 months ahead of transplant time. (Its goal is to cut some roots with a shovel, without digging up the plant yet, to stimulate the plant to regrow more in the size of area that will eventually be dug, but root regrowth takes time.)
Otherwise, division would probably just involve first digging-up the entire clump (it will be harder to split off divisions with minimal damage otherwise) and then splitting it into as few pieces as possible using a garden fork or spade to splice or pry it into sections, with enough roots and stems attached to each clump. (There is no set number of these, just retain as many roots as possible in the process.)
Miri
