How to Transplant Japanese Holly

The Japanese holly looks like the boxwood hedges, but its growth is shorter and wider. The leaves are dark green, small, glossy and oval, with a slightly scalloped edge. They produce small, black berries, though sometimes, they can produce white or yellow berries. The Japanese holly needs rich, moist, somewhat acidic soil, with good drainage and thick mulch. They are not drought-tolerant, but are cold-tolerant. The Japanese holly can be trained to be informal hedges with only occasional pruning and shaping or to have a more formal shape with well thought-out pruning.

Shovel
Pruning shears
Twine
Water hose
Mulch

Instructions

- 1
  Select the new location from your plant. A new location should have full to partial sun for the holly to grow and thrive. Dig a new hole for the holly, twice the size of the root ball, but not any deeper.
- 2
  Tie the bottom branches with twine to avoid any damage while digging and transplanting. Pruning the lower branches can also be done to gain easier access to the truck of the shrub.
- 3
  Dig a trench along the outer edges of the shrub. With the shovel placed under the root ball, lift the shrub up and out of the hole with dirt intact around the roots.
- 4
  Move the newly dug Japanese holly to the new location, centering the root ball in the hole. Back-fill with extra dirt, tapping gently around the plant to pack dirt, creating a watering well or trench around the holly.
- 5
  Add new mulch to the inside of the watering well. Water the transplanted Japanese holly well.

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