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When you're ready to transplant, tie up the shrub's branches to keep them out of the way.

Dig down around the shrub about 18 inches deep, duplicating the circle you made before when you cut off the longer roots and creating a trench wide enough to later pry up the rootball. But don't dig into the rootball itself!

 

Use the shovel as a lever then, pushing it under the rootball and pulling up on the handle to free it. Repeat that process as needed all the way around till it breaks free.

 

But to keep the rootball intact during the transplant process, wrap it in burlap before pulling it out of the hole.

 

It's awkward, but you can spread half the burlap on one side of the rootball, bunch up the other half at the bottom of the ball, push as much of it through as you can and then pull it from the other side as you rock the ball. Use twine to secure the burlap.

 

If you can lift the ball, set it in a wheelbarrow to move it. If it's too heavy, have a tarp standing by and roll it onto that. Then you can pull the tarp to the shrub's new bed.