Expert green fingers - pls advice about digging up something for transplant?

[ConstantlyUselessGardener]

I'd like to dig up a smallish holly plant and move it somewhere else. It's about a foot high and has been there for two or three years so I imagine the roots will be fairly deep.

Anyone got any advice about how to do this? how far away from it should you dig? Is it possible or will I kill it?

This is not a good time of year to move things unless you are prepared to water them all summer. I would wait till atumn

If you decide to go ahead, take plenty of the surrounding soil and then water it really well once transplanted and put a good mulch on to keep it damp.

thanks @Geneticsbunny obviously it's plain I am no-experience gardner.

if you move something how big a hole do you need to dig?

just enough to fit if flush to the surface? or alot wider?

I tend to imagine the roots as a mirror image of the top growth, and for a foot high shrub I'd probably just go straight in with a border spade, at the edge of where I think the roots are, dig right in and see if it lifts easily. But not at this time of year!

I’ve lifted plants at the ‘wrong’ time of year and they’ve all been ok especially if they’re immediately replanted. Just use a spade to loosen all round the plant then dig underneath if necessary. Keep as much of the soil attached to the roots as possible.

Then place the plant into a bucket of water while you prepare the new spot. Soaking it keeps it hydrated while it beds in.

Dig a hole a bit deeper than the existing roots and add some compost at the base. Replant your holly to the same level as before, adding compost as you go.

Water every day for a couple of weeks then twice-weekly after that.