Removing camellia 'offshoots'?

21 years ago

Hello all... newbie here, so please forgive me if this is a painfully naive question! I have recently moved to northern CA to live on a piece of property that my great-uncle planted with amazing gardens about 40 years ago. It's been somewhat neglected since he passed away, so I'm just trying to get a handle on what's what and help my folks begin to restore the gardens as well as we can. Trial by fire for a new gardener, as it were. It's my mom's big dream to restore it to its original condition, and I'm thrilled to be here to help make it happen.

So now for my big question. There's this gorgeous old camellia that's sort of the focal point of part of the garden; it's been there as long as I can remember, at least 30 years. But now there's a second, much younger camellia coming up next to it, about 4 feet away. It wasn't there the last time I was here, about 6 years ago, so it's definitely a new development. It's got about 4 "trunks"/main stems (don't know what the right word is) that are maybe 1-2" thick, whereas the stems on the original camellia are more like 4" thick. The new volunteer is as tall as the older camellia, just much skinnier, much lighter green, and not filled out at all.

Now, this is definitely a sentimental-value restoration project, and this second "offshoot" camellia totally destroys the original appearance/line of this area of the garden. My mom really wants to have it removed, which I will happily do-- but I'm afraid of hurting the original, older camellia.

What's going on here? Do camellias produce runners or suckers or something, is that what this new smaller one is? Is it connected underground to the original camellia? Will it hurt, or kill, the older plant if we remove the younger one? Should we try to dig it up and transplant it elsewhere, or is it safer just to cut it off at ground level (apologies if this is a horrifying thing to say! :) I'd really appreciate any opinions or advice-- I'm terrified to mess with it blindly, for fear of injuring the older tree.

Thanks in advance for any help!

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Comments (5)

PeaBee4
21 years ago
I don't think it will hurt the older bush at all to remove it. It might even help by removing the competition for water, light, etc. Since it has grown rapidly, I suspect that it is a seedling. Has it bloomed? If so, does it look exactly like the older one? I would dig down around it to see if it can be connected to the older bush. That might show you better what you should do.
duodecad
Original Author
21 years ago
Thank you, PeaBee4-- you make this sound not-so-scary, and you've given me courage! I'll do a little exploring at the base and see what we've got. If it's anything terribly mysterious, I'll report back to this forum for further input :) Thanks for the encouragement and advice!
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John_D
21 years ago
That's great advice from PeaBee. Keep in mind that camellias are tough, and the bigger they get, the tougher they are.
duodecad
Original Author
21 years ago
Wow, you guys are making me feel better and better about this-- I had no idea they were tough. I was terrified of destroying this huge old sentimental-value delicate plant. What a load off my mind-- now I can't wait to get out there and investigate (as soon as it stops pouring rain, that is!) I am loving this forum! Many thanks to you both!!
PeaBee4
21 years ago
Sometimes a Camellia will send off shoots, and this may be one, even through it seems to be too far from the older bush. Your best bet, if you want to move the new one, would be to dig down about 15-18 inches away from the new trunk and in the direction of the older one. If it's a shoot, you will hit the old root. Cut through it. Let the new one just stay there for a few more weeks until it develops more roots on it's own. Then move it to another spot.