Transplanting a mature camellia?

kathryn anne

We have a mature cameliia japonica on the property - it must be at least 10 years old and is doing reasonably well but we want to transplant it to another area of the garden with a little more shade.
I understand that they have shallow roots but are they amenable to transplanting at this age?
Cheers
K

kieren

I have tried many times to transplant older camellias and had very limited success! if you have time you may stand a chance. If you can dig a trench at the drip line about 400mm deep around the tree, and then fill it with loose gravel or sand.(this allow for small branching of the roots) wait a few months and then remove the gravel/sand and start to dig under the tree. dig half way to the centre (careful not to damage the new forming roots) and then back fill the trench again with gravel/sand. After 3 more months you can finish digging it out. Try and start this process in the last few weeks of winter fertilise and water regularly! This take a lot of work and can be frustrating but you have a 70% chance of surviving as apposed to 10%
Good luck to you if you try