How to transplant mountain laurel and other climbing plants is the subject of many a gardening question. The easiest way to grow them is from seeds, but sometimes it is easier to clone them and grow them from cuttings. If you choose this route be sure to take care of what grows from your cloned plants, they may have dwarfism tendencies and not do well in an overcrowded garden.
If you have decided to use a cloned plant, I would suggest that you dig a hole two feet deeper than the root ball of the cloned plant. It can be as much as a foot below ground level, but make sure it is deep enough so that the roots will have room to grow. Once you have dug the hole, you will need to remove the old plant from the hole, and the root ball if there is one. Take some time to decide how you want to transplant it – you can keep it inside the hole it was in, or you can move it to a different location on your property.
When the plant comes out of the hole, it should be a little bit bigger than the base of the tree. It will probably need to have a good foot of room on either side for the roots to spread out. Some people dig the plant up completely and replant it, while others look to repot it with cuttings. Repotting a cloned plant is a matter of process and skill, it takes practice to get the roots to distribute themselves properly. Digging up and replanting the plant is not hard to do, but it does take practice.
Make sure to remove the dead and dying leaves on the plant, they tend to block the main roots. You should also remove any decaying matter on the trunk of the plant. To remove the cuttings you should remove the dead stem and take it to a potting bench or place it in a small bin. Do this in the spring when the plant starts to grow new leaves. If you are transplanting the plant indoors, use a sterile potting bench and plant the cloned root ball into it, once it is firmly in place, you can now remove the dead stem and take it to your garden or backyard to remove the cuttings.
It may take up to four weeks for new growth to appear from the roots. During this time, you should continually water the plant, while it heals and builds up the roots. Once you feel the old growth has been sufficiently replaced by new roots, the time is right for you to begin how to transplant mountain laurel. However, if it is a hot weather, transplanting during a cold winter may be impossible.
You will need a needle and fork to transplant the cloned roots, they can be purchased from most nurseries. Be careful not to puncture the roots with the needle, as the cloned image will be unable to be transmitted through the needle. Put the needle into the pot that holds the mountain laurel and dig a few holes around it, making sure that the hole is deep enough to allow the roots to penetrate. When transplanting, it is important that you keep the roots separate, don’t attempt to force them to blend together.
Transfer the needle into the new hole and hold the plant upside down over the ground until it hardens, at this time the needle should protrude through the soil. The cloned image should be visible, if not, gently dig around it until all the roots have been squeezed out. Once the needle is securely in place, water the plant thoroughly and leave it to dry. When the weather changes, move the needle to a warm location.
The best way of how to transplant mountain laurel trees is to have a prepared planting area, which should include at least three feet of gravel placed under the tree to allow for proper root growth. Once established, the tree can easily be transplanted into the desired spot using a hand trowel and root rake. Do not try to transplant more than three or four trees at a time, as the roots may spread to other locations and cause damage to the tree. The best seasons to transplant trees are spring and fall, as both seasons provide the best growing conditions.
