Too late to transplant my Serissa?

Rigamarole

Is it too late to transplant? Specifically looking to transplant Serrissa (Snow Rose), Chinese Juniper and a Cherry (of some type). The soil for these three trees is beginning to really compact and I'm worried about letting it go until spring. Also worried about root rot on my Serrissa. These three trees were recent gifts and the soil seems to be standard potting mix and holding water. I have some Brussel's mix but the bag is not labeled evergreen or deciduous. Is there a big difference?
Sorry for the ignorance, I'm fairly new to this. Any help is greatly appreciated.

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splinter

I'd wait until they go dormant this fall, if I were you. I transplanted a couple of things recently, and one of them didn't make it. If there is a risk of root rot you may be watering too much, or there aren't sufficient drain holes in the pot.

Robert

Sounds like all you need to do is put your serissa into a larger pot. You can call this a transplant, but it's not really......just take it out of its current pot, not disturbing the soil at all, and then place the whole thing into a larger pot, having put some new soil in the bottom of the pot first, then sitting the root ball on top, and placing new soil around the old. This should relieve any compaction or drainage problems for the present.......then, in the fall or spring you can re-pot in the regular way; replacing most of the old soil and trimming some roots, etc.
It's a simple, but immediate way to get your tree happier without disturbing it at all.
Robert

Tiny-Plant

Robert,
I have allso been thinking about repotting my serissa because the soil is so full of roots, and because the pot is broken Your suggestion seems to be the right thing to do. Thanks!

Rigamarole

Thank you much Robert and Splinter!
This is such a great site!!!
I will heed both of your advice and simply place tree in larger container without disturbing roots, then wait to transplant.
Everything I've read says to transplant in spring. Is it just as safe/effective to transplant in the fall
Also, I should have been a bit more specific in my original post; My Cherry tree is very rootbound (but growing like mad), which is why I wanted to transplant that tree. My Serrissa and Juniper are not rootbound but ARE planted in a standard potting mix ( both very healthy), and I noticed the finer roots on my Juniper are browning. The soil is getting very compacted and not at all free draining - in fact, the water pools on the surface :-( which is why I had thought of repotting those two trees. I was worried about root-rot on my Serrissa because the soil dries unevenly and everything I read suggests this is a risk.
I purchased some pre-packaged (Brussel's) soil but am unsure if it is evergreen or deciduous. Is there a big difference
Thanks a bunch.

splinter

I'm by no means an expert on the soil issue, but I would think it's safe to put both deciduous and evergreens in it. At the very least, if it's better draining soil, it's got to be better than what they're planted in right now. Evergreens prefer a more acid soil, but the mix will most likely suffice. As for transplanting in the Spring or the Fall, I've done both, but the optimum time is in the Spring.

Good luck with your trees!