Transplanting camellia

RhodoN

Hello everyone, I would like to transplant a mature camellia shrub within my garden. Does anyone have any related experience? 

I know Camellia’s roots go deeper than Rhododendron’s roots, so I’m not sure whether transplanting the plant will cause enough damage (to the tap root) to kill the bush altogether?

any suggestions/ideas are much appreciated! Thank you! 🙏🏼🌷

Obelixx

Wait till autumn.  Doing it now will stress it too much.

You can prepare the plant now tho by encouraging it to make new, fibrous roots which will help it settle better when you do move it.  Water it well to make sure it and its root ball are thoroughly hydrated then take a sharp spade and push it in vertically in a circle all round the shrub severing outer roots as you go.   

Then leave it till autumn when plants are going dormant but the soil is still warm.   
Keep it watered throughout the growing season to compensate for the lost roots and especially from July thru autumn as that's when they're making their flower buds. 

When you do move it, prepare its new hole first then dig it out using that circle as your guide and make sure any deep roots below get trimmed with secateurs so they have a clean wound.  transplant to the same depth as it was before and make sure it is well watered both before and after.

RhodoN

Obelixx said:

Wait till autumn.  Doing it now will stress it too much.

You can prepare the plant now tho by encouraging it to make new, fibrous roots which will help it settle better when you do move it.  Water it well to make sure it and its root ball are thoroughly hydrated then take a sharp spade and push it in vertically in a circle all round the shrub severing outer roots as you go.   

Then leave it till autumn when plants are going dormant but the soil is still warm.   
Keep it watered throughout the growing season to compensate for the lost roots and especially from July thru autumn as that's when they're making their flower buds. 

When you do move it, prepare its new hole first then dig it out using that circle as your guide and make sure any deep roots below get trimmed with secateurs so they have a clean wound.  transplant to the same depth as it was before and make sure it is well watered both before and after.

Thank you very much for the information Obelixx! 😃🙏🏼 The essence of my question was more whether it’s possible to transplant camellias safely, as one could do with (large growing) Rhododendrons and whether anyone has actual experience doing this? Once again thank you!