This year I am rearranging my landscape and that involves moving some full-grown shrubs.  This is a prospect that scares strong men and sends most people to the Yellow Pages (or the Internet Yellow Pages) in search of a  landscaper.  Not me.  I have moved roses, hydrangeas, butterfly bushes and full grown abelias successfully and I am hardly a body builder.  It's not so much about strength as it is about strategy, timing and patience.  The following are a few tips:

• Prepare the planting hole--Before you dig up an established shrub, prepare its new home.  Dig a hole wider than it is deep and mix the soil at the bottom with some good compost.  Have a bucket or two of water handy.  When you have finished the really hard work of digging up the transient shrub, it will be very easy to finish  the job of installing it.
• Cut back the shrub that you are transplanting.  This makes it easier to move and means that the newly-distrubed root system will have less growth to support.
• Do not move shrubs in extremely hot or cold weather.  Try to pick a cloudy day so that you and the plant don't fry. 
• When you dig out the plant, include a large root ball of soil.  Start by digging a trench in a circle at least with a radius (not a diameter) of at least eighteen inches.  The trench is your guide for digging.  Work your way around the shrub, digging and gently levering it out of the ground.  This takes patience, but is worth the trouble.  The goal is to disturb the roots as little as possible.  When you are finished, move the shrub carefully to its new location.  Fill the planting hole part way with water before you put in the shrub.
• Install the shrub and fill the hole part way with a compost/soil mixture, then tamp it down and water again.  Finish filling the hole and tamp down.  Mulch the shrub well, but do not let the mulch touch the trunk, as that will promote rot.    
• Fill the hole in the old location

Your shrub may go through a bit of transplant shock, but don't worry about that.  It's normal.  Water every few days and wait for signs of new growth.  When it occurs, you will know that you have transplanted successfully.