How to Transplant Trumpet Bushes

Transplant trumpet bushes in late winter around February. Cut back each branch by half using pruning shears to lessen stress on the shrub during the transplant process.

Prepare a planting hole for the trumpet bush before digging it up. Create a 20-inch diameter hole with an 18- to 20-inch depth. Use a sharpshooter shovel to dig the hole.

Amend the displaced soil with an equal measure of coarse sand and compost to increase drainage around the shrub.

Run water at the base of the trumpet bush for 10 to 15 minutes the night before transplanting it. Keep the water volume low so the water soaks into the soil instead of running off the surface.

Measure out a 10-inch radius around the base of the trumpet bush. Press the blade of the sharpshooter shovel into the soil to its full length along the 10-inch radius mark. Work the blade back and forth to sever the lateral roots.

Insert the sharpshooter shovel into the soil at the 10-inch mark on one side of the shrub. Pull the grip of the shovel toward you to pry the shrub from the ground. Lift the shrub from the ground by pulling the base of the trunk.

Remove half of the soil from around the roots of the trumpet bush. Untangle the roots as best you can without breaking them.

Hold the trumpet bush in the new planting hole so the roots rest at their original level. Backfill around the roots with the displaced and amended soil. Add the soil in small increments so it settles naturally around the roots without trapping any large pockets of air.

Water the trumpet bush thoroughly after transplanting it. Run water into the soil until it begins to pool on the surface beneath the shrub.

Spread a 1-inch-thick layer of wood chip mulch around the base of the trumpet bush to keep the soil moist and cool while the roots reestablish.

Maintain moisture at a depth of 3 inches for the first two weeks after transplanting the trumpet bush. Let the soil dry out in the top inch between waterings.