It's not ideal, but as long as you pay CAREFUL attention to watering for the first few weeks - and thereafter as well - they should be OK. If they are going from partly shaded to full sun, or if it is very windy, then I might rig some temporary shade for them for the first while.

Mulching - as widely as possible, no deeper than 4" and no mulch in the couple of inches next to the trunk - will also help.

And I am sure you know the watering mantras by now, but - water when a finger to the second knuckle, or a pointed dowel, says it is dry down a couple of inches, under the mulch. If it's still moist, wait and test again. Don't water on a schedule but rather when the soil is dry - do NOT rely on the lawn-irrigation system to do the watering, as that's not enough to go down a foot or more. If the leaves wilt, and it's morning, water or spray, if it's late PM, then see if they perk back up when the sun goes down and it cools off since wilting is a normal reaction to excess heat. If they aren't normal by morning, water. Water slowly and deeply, so the root balls are soaked to the bottom.

Not if you move them bare root. Just make certain you take ample soil with you, which means not cutting a large amount of roots off.

Here is a link that might be useful: Propagating Perennials

So, when is ideal? It just seems to me, that the window of opportunity for moving shrubs is so slim. I hear the suggestion that they should be moved while dormant, but sometimes in the spring the ground is frozen and not diggable and very shortly after the ground thaws, there is new growth showing on the shrubs. I always plan on moving shrubs in the fall, but sometimes life gets in the way and I can't get to it. I have found myself leaving something in the ground too long and missing a chance to move it at all, because I just can't seem to get to moving it during an 'ideal' time.

Does anyone else have this problem?

Thanks dibbit for that help and the reminders of how and when to water. Very helpful.

pm2

in my zone 5 ... ground thaw through the end of april ... or .. 6 to 8 weeks before the heat of summer ...

z6 cant be all that much different ... i would go for it .. ASAP ...

define bud swell ... as soon as the ground thaws.. buds swell ... are you meaning they are ready to burst open.. or do you mean they are just bigger than last week ... minsculy ...

most viburnum are NOT foo foo plants ... just follow the mantra.. and you will be fine.. IMHO ...

to me.. the growth rate shows that it is a fairly aggressive plant .... i would move it now...

ken

Thanks all...hoping to be out there every day this week getting tons of things moved and happily in their 'forever' place. lol At least half of them have a chance of this being their last move. :-)

Other shrubs I am moving....
Ninebark SSWine only a foot and a half high
Rosa glauca about the same size
Hydrangea oakleaf...three feet high but only three main branches. Hasn't flowered where it is and moving it to the location of a second one that does flower.
Viburnum carlesii...needs more room 3 ft high..in the ground two years.
Butterfly bush less than a foot
3 various mophead Hydrangeas
Spirea Snow White
Knock Out Rose already about to open leaves
Sambucus Black Beauty, didn't like where I put it last year
Taxus densiformis two yrs in the ground under 2 ft
Juniper Witchita Blue I think it is been in the ground the longest..4yrs? It is about 5-6ft tall.

I think that's it...tired already, thinking about it.

Thanks for the link on moving Perennials

:-)
pm2

PM2, there is nothing on your list (except maybe Juniper Witchita Blue since I don't know anything about it) that I would hesitate a single moment to move right now.
Do it!!! Soil is still cold, but already workable, your plants are relatively young and small, there still will be plenty of spring rains ahead.... so I'm willing to make a bet that all of them will be OK.
BTW, for oakleaf hydrangeas early to mid spring is the best time. Much better than in a fall.
George, The mover.

Hello George :-)

Nice to see you! It's been a quiet winter here on the forums this year.

Thanks very much for the encouragement. My oldest son is planning on helping all week to dig dig dig. :-) We are going to start this morning. He is not a gardener and has this unreasonable expectation that once you plant a plant in the garden you are done. He had such a look on his face when I told him how many plants I need to move this spring. LOL I had to confess to him, that I am not as good a designer as he evidently thought I was. I have only recently come to that conclusion myself, which was a surprise to me, too. :-)

I have finally understood that I do not have the ability to visualize, which is a necessity to be a designer, I believe. I can imagine and have creative ideas, but I cannot see in my mind what something will look like. The only thing that allows me to keep trying, is that I know good design when I see it. So much more work for me, to play musical chairs until I find something that looks good to me. I would just love to choose the plant material and have someone else figure out where it is all going to go, then enjoy it and take care of it. I even hired someone to consult with last year to help with that, but found I didn't agree with one suggestion she made. So, I guess I am stuck with me. [g]

I do have high hopes that a few of these moves will stick.

:-)

the juniper is no different .... just do it ... ken

By the way, just so you know....there is absolutely NO way that you can avoid removing most of the roots during a transplanting job such as this. Even nursery grown trees and shrubs, which (hopefully) have been properly maintained above and below ground, will lose the vast majority of their roots upon digging.

Sharply CUT roots will begin to regenerate an enormous amount of new growth immediately. Use a freshly sharpened digging or nursery spade for the job so that the roots are cut, not ripped or smashed.

I'd expect that your shrubs will transplant just fine, as long as you follow some very simple planting guidelines and maintenance procedures.

Thank you all for the advice. We got quite a few shrubs moved before everything leafed out and it is all looking pretty good. The rest will have to wait until the fall.

I am going to clip this post so I can look at it again come the fall and next spring.

:-)
pm2