I have red osier dogwood, buttonbush, elderberry, and willow
shrubs that I want to transplant. They are going to be transplanted near
a pond to strengthen the riparian buffer, and I wanted to know if it is
okay to plant them now. It’s late October but it has been very warm, 70’s
and 80’s, and not too cold at night yet. What are the optimal
transplanting conditions for these plants and will they take if I plant
them in the next week or so?
Are these mature plants, or nursery starts? Is it both hot and dry where
you are? Fall is usually a good time to plant and transplant here in the
Pacific Northwest, but we have ample fall rainfall. If it has been dry in
Poughkeepsie, you might want to wait. However, I looked at the forecast
for the next several days in your area, and it seems to be in the 40’s and
50’s, which should be fine.
Any relatively young plant should not present a problem when
transplanting. Below are general guidelines for planting/transplanting:
Fall Planting of Trees and Shrubs from Iowa State University
Excerpt (keep in mind this is from the mid-West):
“If plants from a nursery can be planted in the fall, what about moving
or transplanting established trees and shrubs from one locale to another?
As you might suspect, severing the roots of a plant (up to 95 percent in
some cases), hauling it out of the ground, and moving it to a completely
new site is a stressful operation, regardless of the season. Still,
transplanting can be successfully carried out if it is restricted to
those plants with a proven track record of surviving such a move in the
fall.
“Why is it that some plants can be planted at almost any time of the year
while others are saddled with much narrower windows of opportunity?
Reasons for these differences are a subject for debate, but the commonly
held belief is that plants with shallow, fibrous roots can usually be
planted with greater ease than those with fewer, larger roots. Prime
examples of difficult-to-plant trees are magnolia and tulip tree; both
have thick, fleshy roots. Other slow-to-establish species that are better
planted in spring include fir, birch, American hornbeam, American
yellowwood, ginkgo, larch, sweetgum, hophornbeam, oak, willow, bald
cypress, and hemlock.
“Notable tree species that can be successfully planted in the fall include
maple, buckeye or horsechestnut, alder, catalpa, hackberry, hawthorn,
ash, honeylocust, Kentucky coffeetree, crabapple, Amur corktree, spruce,
pine, sycamore, linden, and elm. Most deciduous shrubs are easily planted
in fall; however, broad-leaved evergreens like rhododendron and
narrow-leaved evergreens like yew prefer to be planted in the spring.
“Fall planting (mid-August to mid-October) takes advantage of favorable
soil temperatures and moisture conditions that promote the root growth
needed to sustain plants through their critical first year in the
landscape. Unfortunately, our midwestern climate is unpredictable, and
even the toughest plants may die if fall or early winter weather is
severe or erratic. But if healthy, vigorous plants are chosen, if proper
post-planting care is given, and if slow-to-establish species are
avoided, fall planting of trees and shrubs can be as successful as spring
planting.”
Cornell University Cooperative Extension has an online manual on planting
and care for trees and shrubs which includes a general recommendation of
late summer to fall for planting woody plants in New York State, as well
as a short list of species which should not be planted in the fall (it
mentions Cornus, but not specifically red osier dogwood). The main reason
not to plant too late in the fall would have to do with early frosts
causing the plants to heave out of the ground.