TRANSPLANTING A BUSH IN THE GARDEN

The other day we were talking about how to plant a hedge in the garden, shape it and prune it to achieve that green wall that will limit our garden and provide us with privacy. A hedge is nothing more than the concatenation of several bushes that end up intermingling with each other. That is why today we are going to see the transplant of shrubs in the garden to achieve the best results.

WHAT DOES THE TRANSPLANT MEAN FOR THE PLANT?

We see the transplant as an improvement for the plant since we think that it will have more soil and space to develop. That is true, although we must bear in mind that the transplant process itself is very stressful . There is what is called tolerance to transplantation and each species, depending on its physiology, tolerates transplantation better or worse. There are species so delicate that the transplant success rate is very low, with many specimens dying. For this reason, this operation must be well coordinated and as less traumatic as possible.

THE MOMENT OF TRANSPLANTING BUSHES

This is a key factor. There are shrubs and trees so resistant that they will not have major adaptation problems whatever the transplant season, but the normal and most convenient for a good adaptation is to do it in spring for two simple reasons:

• We leave winter behind and prevent the land from being frozen or freezing.
• We still have summer far away, preventing the land from being excessively dry .

Autumn is also another time that many resistant species will be able to survive but we already said that the star season is spring. For example, in the case of perennial shrubs, they can be transplanted without too many problems in the September-October period.

THE AGE OF THE SPECIMEN TO BE TRANSPLANTED

This is another important factor. It is necessary to find the balance between size and successful rooting. If you buy older specimens, you will have foliage in your garden much earlier but you run the risk that the bush or tree will not take root well and die in a short time. That is why a balance between size and age must be sought. Young specimens will always have a higher success rate for rooting.

STEPS FOR TRANSPLANTING SHRUBS

1. Normally, if we have bought a bush in a nursery, it will come in its corresponding pot. We have to extract the root ball. The safest way is to submerge the root ball in water before transplanting. With this operation we achieve two things:

• • The extraction of the root ball is made easier.
  • We managed to soften and hollow out the root ball . If it does not get wet by immersion, it may become too compact in the transplant site and the irrigation water will slip around it without being able to penetrate the roots. Remember that the root ball is a mass of very compacted substrate, with a pitchfork we will have to make a hole in the desired place for the bush approximately twice the size of the root ball.

2. Touch the expensive part for us. Dig the hole with a shovel, which should be approximately twice the size of the root ball of the bush. Once the hole is made, with the help of a pitchfork it is convenient to hollow out the bottom, leave it soft and apply a slow release fertilizer.

3. We extract the root ball from its pot and help detach the roots from the root ball with a hand pitchfork or cultivator and carefully “comb” the root ball to free the roots.

4. We are left with the transplant itself. It is important that the neck of the bush is perfectly level with the ground level . If you have been digging, add a little soil to level the shrub well in height. Complete the operation by covering with soil and fixing the bush well.

5.   Watering right after transplanting is something that must be done to help the soil settle.

6. A BRF or straw mulch around the trunk can be a good way to maintain humidity, temperature and prevent the proliferation of weeds around the new bush.

Now you just have to decide which bush to put in your garden!