Transplanting in winter time is one of the best times of year to move plants around in your garden. This is because plants are less actively grown in this subtropical climate or, if they are deciduous they are dormant until the spring burst of growth brings them back to life again.
If the plants are actively growing like in summer time, they will require more water and extra special “tender love and care”. So take advantage of the winter and do that transplanting project before it gets to warm again.
The best times of the year to do your transplanting is between late autumn and the first weeks of spring. If it’s raining more consistently it is definitely a better time than the dry spell we are having now.
Plants that are larger in size than can’t be handled by the home gardener should really be left to the experts to move. Why? Because they can do the job with the extra care necessary for a plant of that size, and then give you the advice needed for it’s aftercare and future survival.
So if you have shrubs up to the height of the average person you can attempt to move them.
To start; if the shrub is very round in habit, prune the plant in a rounded shape to half its size. Be careful to leave some leaves on the plant to give it a source of food for itself. It is important to reduce the leaf mass, because by transplanting a plant you will also reduce the root mass. So the less leaves it has the less water it wants.
To remove the plant, make sure you have a sharp post hole shovel. Excavate the plant in a round ball, more or less the width of the plant in its pruned state if possible, and at least 30cm deep.
Dig the hole where the plant is to go. If the soil is dry as it is at the moment, fill it with water and give it time to drain away. Make sure you have dug the hole deep enough, so that the plant has enough soil around it to keep it upright without any supports.
Put your plant as upright as you can, and fill the hole with loose soil preferably a mix between premium soil and the original soil from the sight.
Water the plant thoroughly once planted. Make sure you keep the water up to the plant for the first few weeks. It doesn’t take much to keep it alive. Try not to fertilise it, it will make it thirstier.
