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Cutting back and transplanting evergreen shrubs/plants

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  • 17-10-2011 8:39pm
    #1
    AnneJane
    Registered Users Posts: 29 ✭


    Hi,
    I'm a very novice gardener. I plant things that I think look pretty in my garden, not paying too much attention to names of plants/shrubs etc.
    I have a variety of evergreen shrubs/plants and I am just wondering at what time of the year is a good time to transplant them to a different position in my garden and also when is the right time to cut them back. As i said i don't know the name of any of them so if someone could advise me on the 'rule of thumb' for transplanting and cutting back evergreen plants/shrubs,
    Thanks


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    #2
    looksee
    Registered Users Posts: 28,448 ✭✭✭✭looksee


    I think you are saying that you have both shrubs and herbaceous plants and that they are all evergreen.

    October through to about March is the time to move them. How successful you are depends a bit on how old they are, how big they are, and what they are. Any very large shrubs may not survive. Herbaceous plants usually move ok in the winter and can often be split to give you more plants.

    Pruning is a bit more complicated. Some shrubs do not take kindly to pruning and it is difficult to give very general rules. Evergreen shrubs usually are less keen on being pruned so don't hack them back to bald stems or you will probably never see a leaf again. You could cut out any excess branches but be a bit cautious.

    Deciduous shrubs are more accommodating and you can cut them back, though you may not get any flowers for a couple of years. Some are improved by severe cutting back, but without knowing what the shrubs are, its hard to give definite rules. If any of your plants have very large leaves I would be inclined to cut some of them off when transplanting.

    You may have to accept that you could lose a couple of shrubs, but help them by digging compost into the new planting hole, give plenty of water, and stake any shrubs that might be rocked by wind.


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    #3
    AnneJane
    Registered Users Posts: 29 ✭AnneJane


    Cheers for that advice. In future I will take more heed of the names of the plants/shrubs that I am planting :)


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    #4
    Ophiopogon
    Closed Accounts Posts: 1,189 ✭✭✭Ophiopogon


    Looksee covers everything really but if you have anything that you esp love you could always post a picture of it and someone could ID it and give tips for it. Just take it handy with the evergreen pruning as Looksee said some really don't deal with it well.

    A good idea is to have a notebook as a sort of plant diary. I have one and just note different things about my plants through out the year like if they had a better flowering period after I did something different. And just make sure to write down the name asap.


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