Rewilding My Lot

It’s not really a good idea to be moving plants once they’re in the ground. However, I had planted a Turk’s Cap (Malvaviscus arboreus var. drummondii) in a place where it wasn’t happy (too much sun) and in a location that is too close to the lowest point in the garden where water pools in heavy rainfall (and thus where I may eventually place a pond, swale, or rain garden). I probably should not have been in such a hurry to plant one in the spring, and certainly if I had known how brutally hot this summer would be, I would have waited.

Anyway, here we are. There is a bed behind the house that is more shaded (although it still gets afternoon sun), and so I have transplanted my Turk’s Cap there and hope that it isn’t too traumatized. The worst case scenario is that it dies and I have to start again.

I dug the recipient hole first. Then I filled it with water and let that drain while I dug up the Turk’s Cap, obviously trying to minimize root damage.

Once the plant was in its new location, it got a dose of mycorrhizae root stimulant and a good watering. I’ve also placed a chair in front of it for now, to give some extra shade in the afternoon.

It’s still in the mid-90s for daytime temperatures with no rain, so I wasn’t surprised to see the Turk’s Cap drooping after the transplant. After a couple of days I decided to remove blooms and buds to give it more chance to focus on root growth. Here’s a photo from day 4 after transplant. The plant did shed a number of leaves in addition to the trimming that I did, but I remain confident of recovery.