Move during winter when leafless. Dig as much root as possible via bare-rooting, instead of chopping the roots down in order to get a manageable soil ball.

How long have you had the 'Esk Sunset'?

Thanks. I have a bamboo spade that allows me to take a very large rootball and disturb the roots very little.

The Esk Sunset is about 8 years old. Impressed that you ID'd it. :-)

wow on that esk ... i eventually lost mine here in MI .. leaves are white and green variegated on the top .. and burgundy red underneath ...

where are you ... if you want a better idea of proper moving time ...

you might consider rooting some new cuttings .... just in case ...

also .. i dont really see it as crowding the maple.. with some artful pruning ... they might just look sublime together ...

the esk is definitely a tree i would NOT limb up ... but a branch or two could be shortened ... too bad it cant be rooted ...

ken

Are you going to dig and move a soil ball as wide or wider than the spread of the shrub's branches? Because it's usual for the root systems of long established woody plants to be at least that far across.

If not, then you will be cutting the roots back significantly in order to get a soil ball you can handle. Just so the remaining roots have soil around them - there comes a point where this goal becomes counterproductive.

Also some sites can have different soils present within them, it is not desirable to plant a shrub with its roots in one soil and the soil around it in the new location being a different one. So except where the plant being moved is something like a rhododendron, that does not lend itself to bare-rooting it is preferable to bare-root at transplanting.

Thanks, everyone, for the useful comments and insights. I live in hardiness zone 8B. If I decide to move the Deutzia, I have another spot about 20 feet away which shares the same soil characteristics. I can’t take a root ball as big as the crown and move it, but I can take a pretty large one; what do you think of the idea of root pruning and then moving it in a year? In addition, I will give some thought to the artful pruning idea, as well.