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Can I safely move a 2.5 year old Cotinus Coggyria Royal Purple?

steve213steve213 Posts: 14
in Problem solving
Hi all, 

Made a mistake and the beautiful Cotinus is being swamped by other things, so I'd like to move it to a better place. 

It is 1.5m tall & spread, this is its 3rd growing year and was bought is a small pot, so it's established but still young I imagine?

Can I / should I move it and if so, what season and sequence should I tackle it?

Many thanks in advance

Posts

  • Paul B3Paul B3 Posts: 3,154
    Normally I would wait until early Autumn , but as it's only around 4' high and  still young , if you need to move it , then go for it !
    Just pre-soak and take a large enough rootball to keep damage to a minimum .
    Keep moist until re-established ; good luck !
  • steve213steve213 Posts: 14
    Thanks Paul - so I wont need to but it back to reduce stress, just move it as it is?
  • Paul B3Paul B3 Posts: 3,154
    If you think it needs tidying up a bit , then prune back ; like you say this will reduce stress whilst it re-establishes itself .
    If you're happy with the way it looks , then chance it and leave it .
    They've forecast very high rainfall this week for us (E.England) ; don't know where you are but any prolonged rain would certainly help your plant .
  • steve213steve213 Posts: 14
    In Beds / Cambs border area so the big blue blob making its way to us on the BBC radar is imminent - unfortunately, work calls tomorrow so I wont be doing it until the weekend which is a missed opportunity in rainfall terms ... 

    I'll probably give it a prune purely to shape it for its new home and eliminate the chances of any rubbing perhaps, but its otherwise healthy and happy really

    Thanks very much for the advice Paul :)  
  • Paul B3Paul B3 Posts: 3,154
    edited June 2019
    Hope it moves well ; they're nice shrubs !

    I'm in E . Lincs ; the forecast is not very good at all ; had to re-schedule our work last week ; this week is really going to complicate things !
    The joys of working outdoors ! :/
  • steve213steve213 Posts: 14
    And me! I'm quite a fan, hence wanting to see it more!
  • dibdobdebdibdobdeb Posts: 23
    I moved a Cotinus 'Golden Spirit' this time last year - against my better judgement but, due to works in garden, it was a case of 'move it or lose it'. I trimmed it back a bit to reduce stress and gave it a bucket of water every day during the long, hot summer that followed. It didn't look happy and I wasn't optimistic, but I'm pleased to report it has survived and now looks as good as new!
  • Paul B3Paul B3 Posts: 3,154
    I also think that your particular soil-type is an important factor when transplanting .
    Having moved things in the past at the totally wrong time of the year (due to necessity) , I've never had any problems , although in hard clay it might be different . I'm fortunate to have a deep and rich loamy soil at home with a pH very slightly acidic . Everything seems happy and grows well here .
    I once moved a 6' high Horse-Chestnut (red-flowering at the time) in July (in my own garden by the way) much to the horror of my wife who was watching in utter disbelief !
    Needless to say , it survived and didn't  realise it had been moved .
    steve213 is contemplating moving his Cotinus imminently ; sounds like he'll miss the best (or worst, depending on your point of view) of this weeks rainfall .
    I think it may have been beneficial to the shrub .

  • steve213steve213 Posts: 14
    Thanks to you both for the useful info. Still undecided whether to move it this weekend or not really but it seems that whichever way I go, as long as I water it well and look after it after the move, it will resume growth again in 2020.
  • Paul B3Paul B3 Posts: 3,154
    steve213 said:
    Thanks to you both for the useful info. Still undecided whether to move it this weekend or not really but it seems that whichever way I go, as long as I water it well and look after it after the move, it will resume growth again in 2020.

    Good luck either way steve213 ;)

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