Daphne rooted through Pot

allie.quinn

I have a Daphne in a pot outside my front door. I was planning on moving it but the roots have grown through the hole in the bottom of the pot and rooted into the gravel border.  Is there anything I can do without killing it? It's starting to tip the pot over. 

Posy

But they can be delicate. I would gently dig up as much root as possible and then break away the pot to preserve as much root as you can. Then you can tease the roots out a bit and plant in a bigger pot or in the ground. They are lovely things and worth some trouble.

BobTheGardener

Hexagon said:

Ripping out some of its roots isn't going to kill it.

Sorry, but that is false information in the case of daphnes which are well known to be sensitive to root disturbance.  I killed one simply by planting bullbs too close and damaging the roots.

@allie.quinn It has to be done so when you re-pot it, cut the damaged piece of root off cleanly using sharp secateurs.  This will help it to heal quickly rather than letting in disease, which a torn-off root will very likely do.