Hi. We have a big hydrangea in the backyard. It is about two meters high from the soil to the tips of its leaves. The “ball” of leaves and flowers alone is about 120 cm in diameter. The stalks and stems touch the soil inside a circle of diameter roughly 40cm. Unfortunately, this plant is in the way of what we hope will be a new deck extension! Can this plant be moved? How big a hole do you imagine we’d have to dig to safely extract this plant from the ground? Thanks.
Your hydrangea can be moved. But care should be taken as to the timing of the move and the way that it is done. The best time to make the move is late fall, after the plant has gone dormant but before the ground freezes. Alternatively, if you are unable to make the move this fall, you could do so in the early spring before the leaves come out on the plant. Here is a link to a previous Toronto Master Gardener question which has comprehensive information on transplanting shrubs (in this case a mature Spirea, but the process is the same): https://www.torontomastergardeners.ca/askagardener/transplanting-a-mature-anthony-waterer-spirea/
August 26, 2021