transplanting shrubs

I want to move some Aronia shrubs - an Aronia melancarpa and an Aronia arbutifolia. They have been in the ground for just over a year, and haven't started to spread yet. Would it be bad for them to move them now? I can wait until spring, but I have time now.

Muddy1, it is just so hard for me to imagine doing anything in the dirt at this time of year. I'm green with envy. ;)

Get a move on.

Is it a rule of greenthumb that as long as the ground isn't frozen, you can plant?

Thanks, y'all !
I like that rule Pseudo. Last winter, I really needed to dig holes and plant something, so I bought some hyacinth bulbs on sale at Home Depot. I figured if they didn't make it, no big loss. A co-worker said they wouldn't come up in time to bloom. He was wrong!

It would probably be insensitive of me to mention that it's going to be 56 and partly sunny tomorrow, and as high as 74 on Sunday, so I won't.

Lucky girl, gotta figure out how to transplant me to a warmer clime. 74 sounds sooo good. Git your dig on!

Yes, that would be very insensitive of you! 74?! That's just obscene. I'm leaving for the tropics on Jan 4, so warm weather awaits. I love my home state, but it will sure feel good to bake in the sunshine. :)

Well, if it's any consolation, I'm worried about having plants form flower buds that will be killed when it freezes again. My daffodils come up every fall, but it doesn't affect their blooming in the spring, but I'm not so sure about my shrubs.

Pseudo will need every degree between now and his tropical holiday to add up to 74º...

Muddy1: that is not a reason to be concerned. Your plants are going to do what they are going to do, and you can't control the weather - only whether you move them or not in a timely fashion.

It's nice that you can take a break from the cold, Pseudo; and just think, the days will start getting longer in just a few days!
Thanks, VV, you're right of course. We've had these warm spells before, and all of my plants have been okay. The ups and downs we get around here sometimes ruin the Japanese cherry tree festival downtown, though.
I just moved my Aronia arbutifolia and Aronia melanocarpa - neither marked as cultivars - next to an Aronia arbutifolia 'Brilliant'. They'll get a lot more sun, and the bees will only have to travel a few feet from plant to plant if they need cross-pollination, so next year they'd better look like those beautiful specimens in Plant Files!
If I need another pollinator, please let me know.

Pseudo, leaving for the tropics is also obscene and insensitive...take lots of pictures and you'll be forgiven.

Muddy keep us updated with pics too, it'd be fun to follow the progression. Us gardeners can live vicariously through you.

VV, you're so wise.

Mipii, I'm trying to leave enough space between shrubs so that they'll be able to reach their full potential, so I was glad that my brain was functioning enough today to come up with what I think is a good idea: I'm going to grow flowers between the shrubs to fill in the blank places, so it might be photo-worthy next summer after all.

Although I don't much like the expression "pick your brain", I posted a question on my Berry-producing shrub thread to do just that to VV's brain (or others who'd like to volunteer theirs).

Oops, forgot to add that shrubs and trees are the 'bones' of the garden. That's why they should be considered first in design, followed by hardscapes. Start with the most permanent features.

Usually the trees are already in place, which makes one think harder and be more creative. Funny thing; when you're forced to work around certain parameters that's when the mother of invention kicks in and you're often left with an even better work of art.

Nah, grimy and dusty or muddy is more my style!
We had so many trees in our back yard when we bought our house that putting in any shrubs at all was a challenge, and most of them got far less sun than they needed. I wanted to try so many different shrubs, and had so little sun, that my yard ended up looking haphazard. I'm trying to instill a little order now, planting in groups, etc.

Muddy1, you're not 'fessin' up with everyone about our weather. Doggone HOT here today, about 60 degrees, tomorrow 71 with wind and rain...TOO WARM FOR DECEMBER in Northern VIrginia. Now's the time to get dirty! I'm wussing out today, had a very hard week at work, but at least I did place two orders for my 2014 veggie and flower garden. My excuse is that the ground is far too wet to work. I've found that it ruins the soil if you force working it too early.

And, I have expanded my veggie garden, even if it is on paper only at this point...LOL!

I didn't want to make people turn green with envy!!
I'm about to go start digging and planting; that is, if I can decide for sure where everything's going to go.
It'll be dirty work all right - I have a wet pile of ground-up tree roots to deal with before I get to the dirt, which is a bit muddy...but I can't wait - time to get those shorts on!

Gracye, now that's just mean...don;t they have a 'it's too warm to garden' thread somewhere?

Totally just kidding Grayce, I'm one of those types that are truly happy for those that are better off than I. Just pretending to be envious, no matter how much I think I'd like something better...I am always tickled (and grateful) with what I've got.

I don't like gardening when the soil is too wet either, unless I feel I have to. Enjoy your weather!

It wasn't too warm to garden today, but it was too wet; it was drizzling for a good part of the day. I'm glad I did my transplanting yesterday when the soil was dry.

The weather is freakish. I thought about buying an air conditioner condenser cover a few days ago and thought about turning on the AC today. I turn the outside water on, then turn it off, then on again.

There are some summer days when it's so hot that all I do is dead-head...but it's never too warm, or too cold, to do something!

Your body probably needed a break your mind didn't want to give...rest up, maybe more to come.

It got my mind to convince me to get my body into the car and do some Christmas shopping!

Oh, I'm sure there will be balmy days here and there throughout the winter. While I was outside today cleaning up some yard debris, I realized the advantage of one of my gardening adages: leave something to do during the winter! I can't get it all done during the other seasons anyway.

Muddy1 I like your gardening adage...LOL

Jan

Luckily, I have plenty of tasks saved for this winter.

Let it be on record. I HATE WARM WINTER WEATHER. But what's worse, is one day in the teens, the next in the 70's...NOW you think I'm MEAN? LOL!
Really, this weird Virginia weather just beats all. I wish it would get cold in the Fall, stay cold through the Winter, then warm up when it's supposed to.
This yinnin' and yangin' is JUST WRONG.
Two days ago, we set a record for warmth. Yesterday, I went through snow showers on my way home from work. Horrible.
I have accomplished my task of ordering my seeds, and think that the hit-or-miss warm days are God's way of teasing me! I envy those of you who know consistent weather!

Gracye, tomorrow I'll post some pictures of what consistent winter weather looks like. :)

Nope, not feeling sorry for you yet Gracye.

This is what consistently cold winter looks like. Still envious?

I would name them Big jim, Spunky, and Peekaboo

Well, here's what today brought. Cloudy sky in the morning, a few snow showers, and then, sun came out, it went from 27 degrees to 47, and I filled our bird feeders, the bird bath had thawed enough so I dumped the ice off, cleaned it, and filled it up.
Pseudo, yes, I am envious. Looks like there's a dance goin' on with yer trees...yep!
And, SallyG, they ALL look pretty darned spunky to me! HAHAHA! Ah! You all with your REAL winter!

I can name that conifer in three needles (and a bud)...

#3. Abies balsamea

#4. Abies concolor

#5. Abies nordmanniana Avalanche™

Seriously? Can you really identify snow covered firs to the species? Naahhh I don't believe that.

Hmmm...

Beer?

Chocolate?

A viburnum to be named later...

Sally Ann Arundel ~ I get Big Jim and Beekaboo, but Spunky?

Viburnum Valley ~ Very funny, but no, no, and no. However, you do get style points for cultivar name.

Pseudo, 1st pic, conifer right of center...what is it? Very nice narrow columnar cultivar. I like the long taper with a teasingly slight weeping habit.

I believe it's Picea omorika (Serbian Spruce). It was planted by my spouse's late husband about twenty years ago. There's a few on the place, but this is the nicest specimen.

HEY! You are ALL missing the POINT! Lookee at all that SNOW! Whheeeee! I'd say that this is TRULY the perfect time transplant, to get back on the subject...but you need to dig to FIND whatever you want to transplant...LOL!
Unless you are living in Northern Virginia, where the grass is greening up while the birdbath is frozen solid again...!

Thanks Pseudo, your lot looks beautiful...chock full of diversity.

Gracye, there's no transplanting in mid winter around here, the ground is usually frozen. Sounds like Northern VA could still benefit from bird bath heaters...that's my next investment.