Three years ago I planted a Sewartia Ovata in a place I thought would be good. It started as a 12" little stick, and is now about 8' high and branching! I'm amazed, because I had read it was slow growing and stayed fairly small. I'd like to move it now to a more appropriate place, but have also read that it is difficult to move. I am hoping that someone can give me some pointers, including when I should try to transplant it. It seems quite happy in my semi shade environment, although it has not bloomed. I'm hoping that is simply due to its youth. Its fall colors have been absolutely stunning, the best of all my trees. Any advice reagrding this quite vigorous tree would be much appreciated. David
if you wanted to move it, late winter would be best. When I worked for a nursery we would do most of our field tree digging in february through about April depending on the weather. make certain to dig a reasonable sized rootball and tie it firmly. If you are uncertain on how to dig and then tie a rootball try going to your local nursery and see if there is someone there that is proficient at it. For an eight footer you would probably want about a 14-16 inch rootball, use some bone meal when you transplant and also consider adding a mycorizzhae product also (check the package to see if Stewartia is listed as a plant that responds to the particular strains included). I find the Stewartias are hard to grow with a straight trunik for their first few years and need proper staking until they get a nice woody stem, at eight feet you should find that it is beginning to get a nice framework for secondary branching. For the record, Stewartia has been one of my favorite trees the last few years. Great fall colors, great bark texture and appeal, nice flowers and great bud set and fruit set.
Thank you so much. I will try moving it in mid to late February depending on the soil condition. It has grown almost straight up with some side branching that I have just started to prune this last year. I think it is going to be a beauty, but I see it will be larger than I thought. I planted a small Stewartia 'Skyrocket' last year that I hope grows as fast. It did bloom--heavily, in fact--even though only 18" tall or so, and was beautiful, fall color, too. That one is between the sidewalk and the street, and it needed to be staked.
2 feet per year is considered slow for a tree, although I agree you wouldn't necessarily expect this from Stewartia ovata. Does it look true-to-type, with a somewhat sinuous, often sideways branching habit, or does it have the straightish shoots and more or less decidedly erect orientation of one of the much more commonly cultivated Asian species? (S. pseudocamellia can grow perhaps as much as 2 feet per year when young and thriving). Late summer-autumn is the best time to transplant. Late winter-spring is actually a comparatively poor time, for various reasons, which people in cold climates (USDA 5 and below) are oblidged to use for some plants on account of the risk of winter injury to autumn transplants. Even commercial nurseries that ship barerooted stock in late winter-early spring often dig it in November, overwinter it in cold storage.
Interesting. I would say that its vertical path is somewhat sinuous, yes, and there are side branches about every couple of inches, some of which are stronger and have developed. It is these weaker ones that I have pruned to have it take a form with a bottom trunk and then branching. I left a strong low branch that I staked to make more vertical. Something I have found very interesting is that the branching is basically in two dimensions, from one side to the other, but not all arond the tree. I found that very curious. I got the tree from a pretty reputable Oregon nursery that specifically noted the ovata with descriptions that had me choose it. The Japanese Stewartias are readily available here. This has fairly large leaves, too, perhaps a little longer than what I've seen for more typical nursery variety. Much larger than the "skyrocket". I'm an architect, married to a botanist, that wishes he had gone to Ag school at UT (Tennessee) instead. I have a fairly large Japanese Maple collection, with significant punctuations like this. I know from the maple forum that many trees are mislabeled at nurseries, and perhaps this was. But whatever, it is beautiful. Growth rate is interesting. I guess compared to the maples, it seemed like weed growth! Should I wait until August/Sept and a little more height to transplant? That would be OK with me, its not an emergency, but will be necessary. David
First off I want to state that I am not trying to pick a fight with Ron B. :) I read his post regarding transplant time and decided to read a bit and see where it took me. I have transplanted Stewartia and a good variety of other winter dormant shade trees and generally we did the majority of the digging and balling in January through about April, we did do some diggin in Fall but, I thought about why this was. What I think is that since the nursery business (retail and landscape generally) is seasonal with Spring being by far the most active, this is when the nursery needs the trees so they may be dug when it is not necessarily the most beneficial time for the plant. That being said, I flipped through Micheal Dirrs book, Manual of Woody Landscape plants, 5th edition pg 969 which refers to Stewartia ovata. The section on Culture says this "...somewhat difficult to transplant and should be moved as a small (4 - 5' or less) container or balled and burlapped plant in early Spring..." I offer this as the opinion of a respected author. Culturally we may all have different opinions and the one you choose to abide by would be the one that seems most prevalent for your area and climate. I am reasonably familiar with what to expect in my locale but I wouldn't want to guess what happens in yours. My thoughts on a fall transplant benefit would be the fact that roots continue to grow through the winter so perhaps the plant would have a headstart of sorts vs. something that would have had its roots pruned (dig and transplant) in the Spring.
New roots don't grow out of the cut ends of mature roots until spring, so north of USDA 6 you don't want to plant barerooted or balled in burlap stock in fall. It will mostly just sit there, exposed to the elements, without an established root system to keep the top hydrated. Fall-planted container stock, with mostly intact root tips doesn't have much root activity in winter, either. However, such specimens make alot of root growth (60% of the annual total) right after planting, if installed early enough. "Contrasting spring vs. fall conditions supports fall planting of container-grown nursery stock, where the root system is not disturbed at time of planting. Spring: Day length increasing Air temperature warm (increasing) Soil temperature cool/cold Soil moisture good to excessive Soil oxygen level low to moderate Leaf water loss (new leaves) high Stored energy level in the plant low (after spring flush) Fall: Day length decreasing Air temperature cool (decreasing) Soil temperature warm Soil moisture fair-good Soil oxygen level moderate to good Leaf water loss (old leaves) low Stored energy level in the plant very high" Source: Whitcomb, Carl E. 1987 (1991). Establishment and Maintenance of Landscape Plants. Stillwater, Oklahoma: Lacebark Inc.
I really appreciate the advice here. It would seem that I'd best look at a late winter transplant with as large a root ball as I can get, and then take extra care, of course, with nutrients and water. We can get very hot spells here in May, then have cool, wet summers like last year. (USDA 6b/7, but coastal). The real threat is either a hot dry summer, like we had two years ago, or an extremely cold and windy winter like last year. The winter threat seems worse for a transplant, although so far this year is great. I've successfully transplanted two mature hortensias, that seem to be fairly sensitive to transplanting. After two seasons all seems well. I haven't lost many things, but I'd hate to lose this one.
Regarding use of bone meal when transplanting: http://www.puyallup.wsu.edu/~Linda Chalker-Scott/Horticultural Myths_files/Myths/Bonemeal.pdf
Interesting paper about bone meal, definately something to consider. I know in the retail market its a staple comment when people purchase plants to get them bone meal. Some people are now changing that to mychorizzae but that is limited by species response. I am curious about the bone meal solubility though, I was always told it was a slow dissolver and not a good translocater so it wasnt supposed to provide a flash of nutrient or mineral availability and hence wouldnt burn the roots. If it doesnt translocate well then the high concentrations would be quite localized when it dissolved? I have always been wary of the liquid transplant solutions that had NPK and IBA or NAA in them, I found that people would not mix them right or that they wouldnt irrigate well enough and it seemed to burn quite easily. I havent done any scientific test mind you, just my own theorizing.
Just a few quick notes: A late Winter transplant will be like rolling the dice. If you get hit with abnormal cold soon after transplanting you will wish you had not ever proceeded with the transplant. We have been programmed here for years to transplant in the Autumn. The reason why is that as pointed out the soil is warmer than in the Spring, the temps are generally warmer than in the Spring but the main reason is so the roots have some time to adapt before the onset of cold. In a Zone 7 here, in which nearby Foothill communities comes to mind, transplanting is done in mid August as they are expecting in most years to experience some cold around the 1st week of October. Here, we transplant around the 3rd week of September after the warmer temps usually have subsided. October in a warmer climate is generally regarded as a good time to transplant trees. One of the biggest mistakes we make is when we act or seem tentative about transplanting a tree whether it is 8' feet tall or 50' tall. Should we have real concerns about what to do ask for help but that help should be someone in person that has done these types of things. If the tree is important then spending a few bucks for a certified Arborist or a professional landscaper to assist or perform the transplant is a solid way to go. Get someone to help that has done it before to either do it for you or to guide you step by step on what you need to do to better guarantee a successful transplant of this Stewartia. Most Agricultural schools do not bridge well into the field of Horticulture. I know of several schools here that offer no real Horticulture classes as a foundation or as prerequisites for Ag based classes, even for us Plant Science majors. My initial degree was in Agronomy and at no time was a class in Horticulture even mentioned as a source for information useful for us Field Crop technology and management majors. We later learned, some of us did, just how important Horticulture is to Agriculture and vice versa but we learned that long after our degrees were already in hand. I think a clarification needs to be made about bone meal. In most saline to alkaline soils we have plenty of phosphorous either available to a root system or is bound up in the soil. The same is true for Calcium but our residual Calcium here is generally locked up. Here bone meal is not a standard planting tool nor is it widely recommended to help with possible transplant shock. Hormones seem to work better for transplant shock than bone meal will. It could be that I am missing something from the paper on bone meal but I think bone meal will have better use in acid soils or in hydroponic soils instead in which those soils are or were once thought of being known for lacking in phosphorous than in most but not all, of course, saline to alkaline soils. Another point is that even though it was regarded standard practice to place soil amendments in the bottom of the hole just prior to planting, we have or at least some of us have learned that it is probably better to add in the supplement into the soil mix as we are filling in and around the hole after the tree has been planted and then water in the mix well. I am totally against any and all amendments or fertilizers of any kind being placed in the bottom of the hole at planting time. Paul, you already know how I feel about hormones in solution are rather important. When we take softwood cuttings to root we dip them into a rooting hormone prior to placing them in sponge rock or our own mixes. What makes anyone think that if a rooting hormone is essential for aiding roots to generate themselves that the same active ingredients will not be beneficial to a plant later in its development? Most studies on the effects of Vitamin B1 or IAA, IBA and NAA that found no practical application to Horticulture are in my mind rather inconclusive, some studies are in fact slanted. When considering that without some of those hormones our studies in genetic engineering of plants back in the late 70's, early 80's would have all been for naught without some of them including the binder for us EDTA. Jim
Thank you, too, Jim. I have generally planted/transplanted later in the fall here, so this is very useful. I had also thought of getting help from an arborist, and have done so in the past--especially if I wait until August when the tree will likely be a good deal larger. I didn't mean to be lacking in any details or respect to anyone's knowledge or specialty in mentioning UT's Agricultural School. They do have Ornamental Horticulture as a degree or major, I'm not sure of the specifics of the school or other majors, but one of my sisters has that degree. At that time they did not have Landscape Architecture, which I think I would have loved as a profession. It is just strange that life-long interests sometimes are not seen as paths of serious study by a person. I'm trying to learn more about plants now, and this site is a great resource, so much knowledge here. Brad Elmore recommended some books for me to read, also. I really love trees and other large woody plants, especially. I've used bone meal pretty regularly on the recommendation of a local nursery, and have some better plan based on these posts--and typically lined the bottom of the hole. What you say makes perfect sense. These plants bring so much pleasure, I want to make sure they thrive! I just wish I had a real property!
It used to be that it was standard procedure to plant bare root and transplant in the Winter just like jimmyq wrote. Even in my travels to the Pacific Northwest a couple of Universities that I know were still recommending others to plant and transplant their trees in the Winter. We still like to plant our bare root Fruit Trees here in the Winter but we also know a lot of that is due to availability in that most bare root trees for planting are all gone from the wholesale growing nurseries by March and April here. So, we have had little choice at times to purchase the trees then when they are first available for purchase usually in December. We should not equate what goes on with certain plant root systems with other trees. Some trees root systems do indeed grow during the Winter in the warmer climates. The temps are not low enough to prevent the root systems from stopping their root initiation entirely. We know it is true here with Maples grown in containers that we will get some new growth during the Winter as we've pulled the plants out of the cans to check and see for ourselves. We also know that root development occurs in Winter for Fruit Trees also. We know that bare root trees potted up in December in retail nurseries will have in some cases filled in pots by the time the plants are available for resale in March and April. If there was not root development the soil would simply fall off the roots as soon as we lifted the tree out of the container and in most cases that just does not happen. So, there has to be some root growth happening during the coldest parts of our year here. How we equate what goes on in British Columbia, Washington, Oregon and Europe cannot be the same as what goes on here. In California we have perhaps the largest number of microclimates that there is any where in the world. There is a solid basis for the number of zones as referenced in the Western Garden Book. I personally do not pay particular attention to the USDA zones as they do not apply to me but they will for many people living elsewhere. Since the 60's most nursery people here commonly referred to the Western Garden Book as the bible for plants and from my own perspective I agree. It is the best all purpose publication written to date for ornamental plants. People from elsewhere may make fun of the book at times but there are only just a couple of people that have ever been well versed enough in the totality and in the number of plants listed in the book. Then we can ask who all has grown all of those plants mentioned in the book and the answer is no one has. Even today we still will see home gardeners as well as nursery personnel walking through nurseries with their WG book in hand, so we in the nursery had better know that book well or we are asking for trouble later with someone. No current day or past publication in plants has had as much far reaching and widespread appeal. Our views should be taken with a grain of salt depending on how things are done for our own areas. That is not something we should have to be overly concerned about people objecting to as how we transplant here can and will be different sometimes in how other areas, even in California will do things. It all comes down to what works for us and we have found over time and through experience we can plant and transplant any time we want here where I am as long as we know what we are up against with our growing limitations at specific times of the year. How and what we recommend to others elsewhere is the larger issue as just because I have planted and transplanted when the books say don't do it, is something that I cannot tell others to do either. Always side with caution, don't be afraid to ask for help if you are unsure of what and when to plant and transplant. Jim
Thankyou so much, you have all been really helpful.We just separated 25 herbaceous peonies and ended up with 148 plants. They are7-8 years old and very healthy. We gave them premium gold planters mix amended with peat moss and bonemeal then dipped all in hormex.( spelt wrong) Then we mulch everything and pray. What do you think? Sincerely, Anita Vairo
