Moving plants in hot weather

[virginiagal]

I have a small shade garden (planted this spring) under a 50+ year old Japenese maple. The maple has suddenly started dying, one branch at a time. The arborist is testing for verticillium wilt. It looks like the tree will have to be removed. Half is already dead (in just a month!) and the wilting is spreading. I will need to move the shade garden plants before the tree is cut. I have Solomon's Seal, hostas, ferns, epimediums. If I wait to cut the tree until good transplanting weather, I'll miss the best time to plant grass where the tree was. I was wondering about digging up the plants and potting them and putting them in the basement until cool weather. What do you think?

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[andy10917]

If you have the time to water them often, move them now and keep them watered. The basement won't provide enough light, and two transplantations (to the pot and then back to another location) is double stress.

[virginiagal]

I'm going to be away for two weeks in August (with a week home in between). So I may plan for the tree to come up in early September, doing the transplanting a day or so before. I'll be doing tttf and that can be done in mid September. If the tree does have verticillium wilt, I'm wondering if it could have been in the new mulch we brought in this spring. It's a soil borne disease and that tree hasn't had any problems until now. There is another dead maple down the block so maybe there is a maple disease unrelated to the mulch.

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