I live in Burnaby, and I would like to transplant my lilac tree. It's fairly young, planted 4 years ago by the landscapers and might have been 2 or 3 years old at the time. Unfortunately the place the landscapers put it doesn't get enough sun. So, I've looking around for info on transplanting and have found conflicting advice. I've seen people suggest that it's best to transplant in the fall or early spring, but I've also seen it recommended to transplant right after flowering. So when's best? Can I transplant it now? I just removed the spent flower heads. I should add that there are two main "trunks" - one is 2" diameter and the other around 1". How big should I make the root ball?
Dig around it and pop it out next winter, when it has no leaves. Aim for root retention over soil retention: better a large, mostly bare root mass than a small soil rootball.
OK. So, should I dig around it now and do the transplanting in the winter? Surely not when the ground is frozen, but maybe February? Or just after it loses it's leaves? I'm not much of a gardener, so more details would be appreciated.
If you are in Burnaby the ground isnt frozen much. I think the best time would be in october or november after leaf drop
Thank you both for your quick replies. I'll wait until all the leaves have dropped to do the transplanting. I'm still a little confused about the rootball size because of the two "trunks." Do I make the rootball in accordance with the diameter of the largest "trunk" or do I add the diameters together? If I do add them together that would be a 36" rootball which seems excessive and more than I could move by hand.
Have been very successful transplanting French lilacs in Western WA. Your climate is similar. They were purchased bare-root and were transplanted at about 2 years old. I waited until late-October or early-November to be sure they were dormant. They took off in the Spring - no problem - and liked their new environment better than the old. Good Luck!
