LOOK what my husband dragged home......need some help PLEASE

Hello everyone,
One of our friends had a car drive right into her tall hedge and ruined some of the bushes.Well she decided she's gone have them all dug up to put a white fence there.My husband who is not the gardener in the family took them all yesterday.BTW from one minute to the next.

So now I have about 20 LARGE bushes on our backside of the house waiting to be planted tomorrow.These bushes are supposedly are at least 40 years old and range in 8-10 ft tall.she doesn't know what type they are but I have seen the hedge pruned before and they look like they could be very old boxwood ? zone 4-5
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My fear is that they will not make it since they're so big,hardly any root ball and wrong time of year to dig and transplant.

What advice can any one of you fellow gardeners give me ? how much to cut off the top ? what to put into the planting hole ? will Super Thrive help ? have some on hand.

A young fellow will dig a large drench tomorrow.
Thank you in advance,
Brigitte

Unfortunately, one thing you should have done is wrap the rootballs in something moist as soon as they were dug up to keep them from drying out...leaving the roots hanging out exposed to air, sun, etc like that is not helping their chances of survival. Since you're not planting them until tomorrow I'd definitely take some steps to protect & moisten the roots from now until then so you don't make the situation worse. When you plant them, you will also want to cut back the top growth so that it's proportional to the amount of roots. As far as the Superthrive...some people swear by it, others think it does nothing but it's not going to hurt anything to use it.

I have to say that if you want a hedge, you'd probably be better off going out and buying some new plants--between not being dug up properly to get enough roots, and the roots sitting out exposed for that long, and it being summertime which is always a tough time of year to transplant things, there's a good chance that some/all of these won't make it. If you're not spending a ton of money to have this guy help you dig the trench then it's always worth a try because sometimes plants can be tougher than you expect though.

I'm confident in saying that those are not Boxwood - but they are one bunch of traumatized shrubs. You should try taking a few more pictures (including closeups and clearer versions of the whole plant) so we at least are making more than just general recommendations.

I'd also recommend the wetting/moistening of all the parts of those plants, right up until you put them in the ground. Setting up a sprinkler to run water on them would be very beneficial, and cover the roots to avoid re-drying.

I would NOT cut back any part of those plants while planting them. Let the plants settle into their new situation, and let the plant tell you what parts of them that they are going to give up on.

Woody plants have all sorts of dormant buds that they will activate when put under this kind of catastrophic stress. When you see what dies back and where new growth begins, then remove those parts of the plant that are not growing.

Once these have settled in for the long haul (if they indeed live), then you can start pruning for shape and aesthetics.

ecrane3,
Thank you for your advice.Unfortunately I was not there when they were dug up and totally unprepared to have that much burlap etc.on hand.Like I mentioned it was like from one phone call to a few minutes later when they pulled up with a trailer.
About cutting the top growth so that it's proportional to the amount of roots.I'd have to cut quite a bit since I always heard and done to cut the top part shorter than the roots,with plants anyway.Since I mostly grow roses and tree peonies etc.I haven't had the opportunity with bushes/trees.

ViburnumValley,
It is funny that your DG is the name of what might be Viburnum ?
Since I always saw their pruned hedge from a DISTANCE I never been able to get a closer look.But now when I saw them close up even with tiny buds I am wondering if they are what I think they might be.
I am charging up my camera battery right now and will take pictures for you to see.
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I have kept them wet,watering them several times a day since Thursday pm.The young man who was suppose to be here at 9 am is still NOT here more than 2 hours later.Says he is running late.I'll keep you posted.

THANK YOU both for your help,it's greatly appreciated,
Brigitte

I agree with VV on not pruning the tops. I've read it's better not to. The top growth helps grow new roots and vice versa. I read it's one of those old garden practices that turned out to be incorrect.