Yes you actually can. You have to be very careful though and expect some losses.

The best time of the year to move Camellias is during winter months. As to elderberries, you can move them anytime. Give it plenty of water because they tend to have transplant shock if not cared properly.

i have no camellia experience

as to elderberry ... run it over with the truck.. dig it up.. leave it on the driveway for a week .... probably couldnt kill it if you wanted to ...

there is a lot of argument over cutting off all the food making machines.. leaves.. before transplant .... and in your case.. TWICE.. prior to moving ...

and that would hold true for an evergreen type tree ... DO NOT DO THAT ...

the elderberry is deciduous for me.. move it any time its nudey ...

but my gut.. with no experience.. says do NOT do that with the camellia ... others can tell you i am wrong.. if i am ...

ALL size estimates at a given time frame.. e.g. for conifers.. its 10 years ... and at 20 years.. they are usually twice as big ...

the easy way ... is to understand that NOTHING really stops growing at some magical height... use google images.. to see the vast potential.. of any given plant ....

here, you are talking shrubs.. and they dont grow up.. like trees... but they still..a s you have learned.. continue FOREVER.. in height .... you can keep them smaller.. thru REJUVENATION PRUNING OF FLOWERING SHRUBS .... google that term ... [but elderberry would fit in that system.. and i bet NOT the camellia]

ken

I moved my 3.5 foot camellia this summer and had no problems. I cut the newest, most tender foliage back a bit to compensate for the root loss.

Since you're in zone 7 I think you'd be best to wait until March or April, or maybe just after blooming in May when the weather is warmer.

In warmer zones winter is a better time to move camellias, but up north the camellia will have a tough time getting adequate winter moisture from the damaged root system during cold spells.

Cutting back the top "to compensate " for root loss is a practice that has long been discouraged. Your camellia needs those leaves in order to manufacture new roots. In your zone, roots can begin regenerating right away.

rhizo,

The newest growth was wilting after the move so I removed it down to the older, hardened growth.

What I cut was maybe less than 3% of the total foliage. Can't imagine that would have caused one bit of harm.

Thank you all for your advice.

"What I cut was maybe less than 3% of the total foliage. Can't imagine that would have caused one bit of harm."

...or one bit of good. I agree with Rhizo, cutting back foliage is usually not a good idea. Sometimes it may be necessary for handling or something, and sometimes it may not be harmful enough to cause a real problem, but I'd try to avoid it in general.

I agree to avoid cutting back except for removing old dead wood; however, I have successfully transplanted a camellia in the worst possible situation. It had been dug out & offered up on freecycle on an unseasonably hot day late March. The rootball sat on the lawn in the sunshine covered with a damp bed sheet. By the time I came to pick it up they had also cut almost all the top growth to just the trunk. There were few branches left with few leaves. I transplanted it setting it high in good rich soil in part sun. New growth all over now.

Also 2 others that had been "whacked back" were transplanted in June. Planted high & mulched.

One was cut to ground & had some resprouting, though during the transplanting the stems were weak ... broke off. We inserted them in the ground as cuttings... They're growing.

The other had been sheared at 2-3' repeatedly the past few years, but also in shade from other overgrown shrubbery. Growing well now.