Move a 2 yr old climber?

I have a 2 year old climbing hydrangea. It has not done much in these 2 years in terms of height. I would like to move it 3 feet over so it will climb up our 35 year old fir which has no branches lower then 20 feet up. If I can move, when?

Anastasia, you can move it any time now. Just be CERTAIN, after you do, to keep it WATERED WELL, and to put a 3-inch deep, 3 foot wide layer of mulch around it. Climbing hydrangeas are tough. I KNOW, because just about a month ago, I had a landscaping company come to my home and remove the soil about 15" deep all around my house so I could replace it with good, black top soil. (I HATE digging in hard clay!)

The thing was, though, that on the east side of my house, I had a 2-year-old climbing hydrangea that I had not mentioned to the landscapers to NOT dig up. And yep---they not only dug it up, but tossed it aside like a weed! I could NOT believe my eyes when I saw it lying there in the grass! But luckily it still had a fairly good root mass attached, and I threw it back into the hole, covered it with dirt and threw mulch down over top of that, and the plant has remained alive now for nearly three weeks.

I therefore believe very much that if you carefully dig up your climbing hydrangea, then immediately replace it in the new hole, fill it with dirt, and tamp it well down to remove any air pockets, then water it thoroughly, cover with the mulch I mentioned, and keep it well watered, you should have no problem at all with the transplant.

I do believe, though, that climbing hydrangeas take a 2-3 years to get well-established to where they are really putting on significant growth each season. And of course, keep in mind how tall they can grow and how heavy they can get, with regard to the tree you are going to train yours into.

Incidentally, I am training several wisterias up into some large silver maple trees in my back yard. I have been cautioned about doing that, but am going to give it a try, making sure that the vines do not go all the way around the trunk, which would strangle the tree,

Best wishes with your transplant!

Elliot

Elliot, what kind of light does your climbing hyd. get?

You mean DID it get. :+( I had it in an Eastern exposure, against the east side of my house. Why do you ask?

I have mine in shade w/ a bit of AM sun and have wondered if too little sun.

We are moving up north to a small farm and I wanted to take my garden with me. i dug up a 6 year old climbing hydrangea. It was previously growing in filtered sunlight with more shade and had only begun to flower a little bit. I planted it in a spot that gets more light and it's doing great. No problems. I did ammend the soil and mulched it heavily and kept it watered and so far so good. I was not about to leave my climbing hydrangea since I paid a lot of money for it and they are hard to find.

Good luck with yours.