Hi and thanks in advance for your expertise. I have a three year old Smoke Bush shrub. It was quite healthy and “normal” last year. Normal sized leaves and some of the smoke flowers but not many. It gets maybe four hours of direct sunlight. This year the leaves are tiny and no flowers. I was hoping it was getting away with the lesser amount of sun but I guess my magical thinking did not work. If I transplant it to a sunnier area, will it recover in the next couple of years? I might take it to my daughter’s house where she may have more sun. Any tips for transplanting?
Ah, gardeners everywhere are prone to magical thinking! Alas, as you have discovered, most often the magic fails. Your smoke bush does require full sun, and if you have such a spot available in the garden, it will be far happier when you move it once the temperatures drop.
Here’s a good fact sheet on the smoke bush (Cotinus coggygria) and its habits, from the University of North Carolina.
Your plant also needs a good pruning. Luckily, smoke bushes are easy to prune. In fact, when you move it this fall, you can can cut it back some, just to make it easier to handle and then in late winter / early spring, you can cut it back to just 6-8 inches above the ground. This is called rejuvenation pruning.
The bush will send up new growth and then you will prune to keep it to the shape you want. (I enjoy the foliage rather than the flowers, so I cut mine back hard every year.) Here’s a video from our colleagues, the Master Gardeners of Knox County, which shows how to prune a smoke bush to the desired shape.
As for the transplanting, as I said, you need to wait until the fall. Pennsylvania State University has a good fact sheet on transplanting trees and shrubs that you may find helpful.
And for more guidance, here is our own Gardening Guide on Planting a Tree for Life.
Good luck with relocating your smoke bush!