What to do About Transplant Shock
Updated: Jul 20, 2021
As I've been moving and shaking things up in my yard, I decided to move my Golden Elderberry to a better spot. I stayed a good distance out from the base of the bush so I could try to get most of the main roots and was shocked that the roots weren't a little more widespread. Apparently Elderberries have a shallow root system. Either way, I was a little disappointed and freaked out, honestly, when after 3-4 days, my Elderberry looked like this:
This is why I love Google.....I found out why this happened and it's called Transplant Shock. The bush just got freaked out, but I can't assume it's going to recover on it's own. My inclination would have been to add organic fertilizer to the base, but that's wrong. Thank God I looked it up first!
The remedy (hopefully)? 3/4 cup sugar : 1 gallon of water applied around the base (being sure to get all around where the roots extend) once a week. According to SFGate (which is a great source of gardening info), the solution is a boost to the plant's metabolism so it can convert sunlight to energy and absorb water and nutrients. That's what I did, so we'll see. I'll post pics next week and we'll see if it improves!
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