I will be moving back to KY the end of July. Going with me 3 hydrangeas. 1 is a beautiful pink/white lace cap, 1 is a large mophead, but the plant is a cutting that was given to me and has bloomed twice. The other one is a wild lacecap hydrangea I brought to Calif from KY, so will be returning it to home. I'm not sure about how to transport them. The wild one I can do like I did when I brought it here, cut it down, wrap the roots in damp planter mix and in a plastic bag. Can I do the same with the other 2? I'm also taking about 20 roses home with me.
Moving
I would delay getting them out of the ground as long as possible, wet the soil the evening before you dig them out, get as much of the rootball (and associated small feeder roots) as possible and keep them in bright shade. Try to keep the rootball as intact and moist as possible. I would also pick a "storage" spot where they get no or little wind. When transporting, shrubs do better when they are not in a place like an exposed pick up bed where the wind dries them out. If placed inside a storage van, make sure they do not overheat. If inside a car, keep the windows partially lowered if you stop as temperatures inside a closed car can get close to 140 in the sun. Be aware that the mid part of the country is expecting temps in the 100s or higher for the next few days. That means that during your trip in July, it may be just as hot or hotter when you drive. I would not fertilize them prior to a move. I would hesitate to store the plants in plastic bags because plastic does not breathe/drain well. A bedsheet or burlap can help keep the wrapped rootball intact and allow you to water the plant by watering the bedsheet or burlap; it will also help drain the water and help the roots absorb oxygen..
Thanks for the suggestion. I had not thought about temps. The hydrangeas are still in pots, just pots tobig to put in the Jeep. I was expecting to live here from now on and started putting them into prement half wine barrels. Now I'll take them back to KY and put them in the ground, probably better for them anyway.
How easy (or not) was it to control soil moisture on those half wine barrels? I ave some used for tomato and veggie plants but have not tried hydrangeas in there.
I had no trouble controlling the moisture in the wine barrels. I also put bark covering as a ground covering. That also helped.
have to say this: I've been digging up and potting my hydrangeas for the last couple of years. Here is Atlanta we've been in such drought I could not keep enough water on them as the tree roots would grab it first. So I've been collecting big pots and filling with good quality potting soil and my hydrangeas have just loved it! I have a lot of Japanese lacecaps and they were all looking so bad - thin and sparse and laying down flat in the heat - but after I've potted them up, they have become lush. Finding big pots that are affordable has not been easy.
sterhill - yours do seem to love being potted. I did that to one of mine that never seemed to thrive and now it's doing very well. Last week I found one that I left in a pot, meaning to plant but never got around to it (since 2010) and it is also doing very well. I had to cut some roots to move it but it's receptive to the move.
Oh, that is exquisite!
Right now I have a rose from Chamblees (Glamis Castle) and two quite rare hydrangeas that I got from Raulston arboretum in pots. They will probably always be in pots, albeit bigger ones, because they can't survive our winters. It really does make it easy to give them that special care.
Well, I made it home to KY with my roses and my hydrangeas. I think I lost 2 of the smaller roses, but everything else is doing great. Several of the roses are blooming at this time which surprised me. The wild hydrangea that I had left in KY is now over 5 feet tall. I'll have to do a little trimming on it. I brought the one I took to Calif home to KY and it is also regrowing by leaps and bounds.
That's great news and wonderful encouragement to others, marti. So glad they're doing so well.
That is really wonderful. Congratulations. I agree with Pirl. Others who are moving need not lose all of their treasures.
I'm looking to add a new hydrangea to my garden. Next to the Social Security Office here in Somerset there is an Oak-leaf hydrandga. Today I went by there and they had cut in way back, but there was new growth, so I took a cutting and have it in the kitchen window in water. Should I leave it there to root or should I take it outside and put it in a pot to root. We are running temps in the 30's and low 40's during the day and in the low 30's at night.
That is too harsh an environment for cuttings with no roots. Softwood cuttings of oakleaf hydrangea dipped in hardwood rooting hormone now should propagate easily or quickly dry/die off; very few in-betweens. Cut beneath a pair of leaf nodes so you get an approximately 8-12" long cutting. Then leave them in that potting mix for about a year; keep it evenly moist never wet in a small pot withholes at the bottom; and then transplant it to the ground or pot it in Fall 2013.
Thanks. The cuttings I took are hard wood, so I guess I need to go back or just wait til spring.
Try it anyways. Softwood cuttings do best but that does not mean that the chances with hardwood cuttings are zero. Good luck!