Spirea japonica, very root bound... Thoughts?

[Clorgan]

Hello all!

Spirea japonica - sparkling champagne.

On sale, cheap cheap cheap, looks to have a pretty cool trunk/nebari... Good clump?

It's very root bound, digging a little to see what's there. Some leaves fine, some not in the best nick at all.

Reckon it'll be alright in current soil till spring?

 

[Leo in N E Illinois]

Probably okay until spring.

 

[Clorgan]

Probably okay until spring.

Cheers Leo, as always! Would you wait till spring over late summer/early autumn with this one?

 

[Clorgan]

Cleared it out a bit, branches are super leggy. Unsure whether to prune hard or wait till next year? Happy either way, just hoping for a knowledgeable person's opinion

 

[Leo in N E Illinois]

Cheers Leo, as always! Would you wait till spring over late summer/early autumn with this one?

I hesitate to recommend, as I don't intimately know your climate. Myself, I would repot right now. Combined with a pretty good prune back at the time of repotting. (prune back less than 50%). You could repot now if you are able to keep up on daily checking to see if you need water. If you repot & prune back, you will probably have no flowers. If you wait until spring, repot without pruning, you will get flowers. Its up to you. If you did the late summer repot, I would repot before the autumnal equinox, actually I'd repot before Sept 1. That way, any new growth that starts, will have time to mature before first frost.

Its up to you, wait for spring or repot now. Chances of survival either way are pretty good.

 

[Clorgan]

I hesitate to recommend, as I don't intimately know your climate. Myself, I would repot right now. Combined with a pretty good prune back at the time of repotting. (prune back less than 50%). You could repot now if you are able to keep up on daily checking to see if you need water. If you repot & prune back, you will probably have no flowers. If you wait until spring, repot without pruning, you will get flowers. Its up to you. If you did the late summer repot, I would repot before the autumnal equinox, actually I'd repot before Sept 1. That way, any new growth that starts, will have time to mature before first frost.

Its up to you, wait for spring or repot now. Chances of survival either way are pretty good.

Interesting - thank you I know they're pretty tough, will probably do now or before September!

 

[Graft]

Interesting - thank you I know they're pretty tough, will probably do now or before September!

Very Tough, I bought a Spiraea in Spring, It was straggly and horrible. I chopped off all but one middle leader branch, took off all the secondary branches and just left a few leaves at the "crown". Within 2 weeks it was back budding all the way from the base to the tip. I am not sure what what to do with it now! But if it were mine I would wait till spring knowing that you will get plenty of buds even on old wood.