Hi, We moved a 5-6 ft smokebush tree a couple of weeks ago and it is looking pretty sad now. Unfortunately, I am new to this site and did not know I should have waited until fall after blooming to transplant the tree. I have been watering regularly but the leave are really wilting still. I am wondering if it would be a good idea to prune it now since there are lots of leggy branches or will that just be more of a shock to the tree? Thanks for any advice!
As far as I know usually when transplanting (at correct time:) about a third of a bush is pruned. I would just wait and keep looking after it. It sounds as tho it has gone to survival mode. Those wilted leaves may fall and new ones will come back. If it is very scraggy may be a bit of pruning. I also wonder what it is you are refering to as a smoke bush? http://images.google.com.au/images?...&sa=X&oi=image_result_group&resnum=4&ct=title Liz
We bought several 2 ft cotinus smokebushes from our nursery and planted two of them too close together. Here are a couple of pictures of our poor guy:
Here is a picture of it's sibling which is thriving in its original location: p.s. There is an unidentified tree/shrub (we forgot what it was) in the lower left corner that we also transplanted at the same time and we will probably end up giving up on it. The azalea and euphorbia were also moved but it looks like they are lucky enough to survive.
I would just give it time (months). They were pretty big plants and I doubt you did preparation before removing them as well as being the wrong time. It does not look too bad in the pic just a bit down at the mouth. I would trim mystery plant down and keep looking after it as well. I not sure of your weather but probably no where near as hot as we can get in summer. I would however make sure you keep water up to them. Mulching would be a big plus to make sure the moisture stayed and you won't need to water too often. Over watering can kill as well. Liz
