what Smivies said, excellent response.

Big breath while I take in your answers

The deed is done

I'll let you know in spring if they died The root ball was impenetrable I could not have boxed it. I guess a very strong person have done it with a spade

never too old to multiply one's mistakes

i put garden soil in a bucket put in plant then more soil around the rest of root ball

i did not leave it naked in the driveway

thanks for the help

marie

as your title states.. its a shrub.. wonder why you posted in trees.. rather than shrubs ...

and the only reason i mention that.. is that generally speaking.. shrubs are much more forgiving as compared to trees... as to this process ...

in fact ... i call many of them.. run them over with your truck type plants ....

whatever happens.. you got a bargain.. and you learned a lot.. with the unpotting ...

replant at same height ... root flare is more a tree issue.. rather than shrub ... many shrubs are rooted.. which means a small stick was stuck ... and then it grew roots.. contrary to our flare thinking ...

dig a wide hole.. spread the roots best you can ... maybe using some sticks to hold them outwards.. while you fill the whole ... refill halfway.. water deeply.. refill rest ... water again ... mulch well ... walk away ...

check soil moisture with your finger every 2 or 3 weeks ... with falling night temps.. and the decline of the sun.. you MIGHT NOT have to water for the rest of the year ... do check in mid November .. long after you probably have put the hoses away.. just to insure it doesnt go into winter bone dry ...

success may depend on how harsh fall is ... if ma nature decides to go all high heat and mojave desert ... it might struggle ...

but it is basically sept.. fall ... so what.. you were a few weeks early ... whatever ..

if the ID is correct ... its deciduous ... if you REALLY stressed it .. it might shed all the leaves.. ASAP ... whatever.. lol ... the future is all in the buds that remain ...

if it does NOT lose its leaves.. until later in fall.. when everything else does .. then it wasnt all that stressed by the process ...

time will tell .. and you might just find out ... you learned something.. perhaps.. that shrubs are not as foo foo as you might think ...

ken

ps: if this was a tree ... i would do this process.. as the leaves in the area are changing color ... the tree is basically dormant by that time ... ergo.. you wont make the leaves fall off.. you wont stress dead leaves ... but thats another show .... but though the leaves are done.. the roots can grow for a long time in fall .. until soil temps drop significantly ... depending on zone ...

coffee buzz ... lol..

2 other thoughts ...

A .... im not sure a shrub can strangle itself ... like a tree might in a few decades ... perhaps a good question for the tree forum ... if so ... just spread the roots best you can ... and dont worry about it ...

II .... holly is one garden addiction i chose to skip ... so if there are any special holly rules i will have to defer to those who know better ...

ken

I've had what turned out to be root bound shrubs laid flat under snow loads after about 25 years in position.

Horticultural techniques for successful plant establishment

https://s3.wp.wsu.edu/uploads/sites/403/2015/03/Planting-fact-sheet.pdf

Ken, thank you for answering the question. Your answer was specific and helpful. I have two more which I will 'shave' on all sides. Then I can compare survival or regrowth between the ill treated and properly treated ones.

Embo,

It was Linda 's directions I was following. Over the last 2 years I've read as many of her articles as I could find. . I forgot about not disturbing the soil at the bottom and the holes could have been wider.a few inches wider. I had a viburnum that died because of root girdling. It grew fine for about 4 or 5 years then I found it lying at it's planting hole. I popped it back in without much thought. It died, so I dug it up. It had a root at least 1 inch thick encircling it and poor root development. I suppose it's possible voles did it in, but I've never had a vole problem and the root growth was remarkable and distinctive

I remembered the fall planting dates. We expect another week of temps in the 70s this week, 50's at night. I am positive we'll have at a few spikes in the 90s between now and November but I hope they can survive that. And I promise not to overwater, although someone did say it was hard to 'overwater' winterberries. I wondered about that.....

Winterberries have grown beautifully in my garden. I have them in two other locations and they are covered with red berries from October through December, if not later. After they're established they are nearly carefree. I'll water them once in the summer if there's no rain at all. I haven't had a great experience with other ilex. They seem more prone to winter injury, more water needy, not quite "fou-fou" but not iron-clad like the others.

True confession: I didn't think these were 'fou-fou' because I know they are not. I was just really annoyed at myself that I bought more root bound plants. so I was determined to make them live!

But you know what? It is very difficult to find retail trees and shrubs that are not rootbound. I'm not shy about unpotting woodies at the nursery and I'll swear that more are potbound than not. I didn't have time to unpot these huge winterberries on site.

Since winterberry hollies grow naturally in and at the edge of standing water, no, you can't overwater them. So give them some shade for this fall, water well, and hope. I would leave them for a season even if they appear dead next spring since they sucker in my garden and so may come back from the roots. Either way, as Ken said, it will be a learning experience.

The fruits of apparently careless container culture are pandemic on the market here also. If you've read everything from Chalker-Scott you've seen where - as I remember it - she says you can pretty much expect to be correcting roots of woody material every time.

ESTABLISHMENT OF CONTAINER GROWN PLANTS –
THE IMPORTANCE OF WATER

https://rootmaker.com/sites/default/files/pdf/establishment.pdf

'you can pretty much expect to be correcting roots of woody material every time'

YES!!!!

I had the same problem. When a plant is 75% off, why not give it a try. I did the same thing, tore it apart. I have another two to plant, so I might be more gentle with this one and see which does better. And, although the advice was helpful, the posts were rude. Why would somebody write "what did you do with the plant while waiting for the post" or 'this is a shrub, not a tree". Civility and kindness seems to get lost on the internet these days. Maybe she has more to plant, maybe she wants to know if she should just bring it back to the greenhouse for a refund. Who knows...If you are annoyed with the questions, then just don't respond instead of scolding her.