Plant Doctor Archive

Transplanting red Cordyline

PLEASE could you advise me on transplanting a red cabbage tree? The tree is growing in my front garden and is about 1.5m high. I want to replant it in a spot where another cabbage tree died. Can I replant it? When should I do it? What fertiliser should I give it?

THE best time to transplant is autumn, when the tree will have slowed down its growth rate, enabling it to recover better before summer. You will need to dig very deep to get most of the root ball as cabbage trees have long tap roots. Put into a good size hole, add some Magamp slow release fertiliser which lasts for two years. Don't replant it in the exact same spot as your last cabbage tree, in case there are any fungal problems in the soil which caused it to die. Water regularly through spring and summer with Nitrosol to encourage new growth.

Reproduced with permission from the former Weekend Gardener magazine. The views expressed here are not necessarily those of the RNZIH.