Working on digging up a tree for transplant

[CliffordK]

I've been working on trying to dig up a cherry tree for transplant over the last couple of days. Perhaps it is too late in the Spring, but it is good weather. And, I did manage to let the tree get to be too big, waiting longer won't help that.

I'm really envying those people that have backhoes.

I've hand dug a trench deeper than knee deep dug around most of the tree. Undercut it a little bit.

My thoughts are that I can take a steel choker cable and shackle, and pull the cable under the tree with my winch to undercut it the rest of the way. Then, hopefully I'll be able to pick up the tree and fairly hefty rootball with my tractor bucket. It is on a bit of a slope which should help a bit with it.

I'll try to post some photos in a couple of days.

 

[powerpace]

It may be too much of a shock if you take very long in this process. A transplant spade machine (Vermeer) from a larger would have been quicker easier and more expensive. The tree may live but transplant shock will probably mean no fruit this year.

I was involved in transplanting 2000 semi-dwarf pear trees back in the 60's. Four Vermeer transplant machines made quick work of the job.

 

[Pilot]

Shoulda been a winter job when the tree was dormant. Good luck on this.

 

[CliffordK]

I realize the tree should have been dug up a bit earlier. But there was good weather now.

I don't have any very expensive transplant machines for moving this one tree.

Using the cable and winch to undercut the tree worked quite well.


After the undercut, a little dirt was pulled out of the rootball, but it mostly stayed intact. After doing it, I thought it might have been a good idea to also pull a rope, or a couple of ropes under the tree, but didn't do it. It would have been nice to pull a tarp under the tree, but that would have caused everything to slide, and would have made a mess.


Unfortunately, I quickly discovered that my rootball was way too big for my tractor bucket, and trying to pick it up with the tractor just tore the rootball.

So, a little time deciding how to remedy the situation, I decided to connect forks to the tractor bucket.

I watered the tree, but that meant a couple of days delay, and the tree already began to look stressed.

Once I had the forks on, I went ahead and tried again.



I lost a little more dirt that I had hoped, but I did get it replanted fairly quickly.

I did manage to preserve enough roots that I don't have any ropes on the tree, and it is reasonably stable. About a week later, it still appears stressed, but not dead yet. In fact, I believe that I have some new growth on the tree, so as long as I don't forget to water it, I think it will pull through.

It was blooming when I started the process, but the blooms wilted quickly as I was moving the tree (they might have anyway). There are what appear to be a couple of cherries left. I wasn't really expecting any, but if I get a few cherries, that will be a nice bonus.

I still need to top the tree. I've been debating this in my mind. At this point, I think I'll wait until it recovers a bit before doing anything more. Leaving the top intact means more foliage, and thus more tree. However, since it seems marginal about getting enough water, if I had topped the tree, it would have been less foliage to get water to, and perhaps the tree would do better with a damaged rootball. So, if I was doing this again, I probably would have started pruning the tree several months before the move.

Now, the next project will be to see if I can graft some of the limbs next year.

 

[sailfast]

Its dead Jim.

Actually 50/50 chance you killed it. How did you amend the soil when you replanted?

Don't top it yet unless it gets worse, that should be a last ditch effort at this point.

 

[CliffordK]

I had a good size hole that I put it into, so it got quite a bit of loose soil.

I added about a cart full of fir tree needles and droppings, although not the best mixing of the dirt and needles.

 

[sailfast]

What kind of droppings?

Why the pine needles?

 

[MarkV]

Pretty hard to transplant a tree that size with roots exposed and hope for good results. Lots of water is your best bet at this point. Good Luck

MarkV

 

[CliffordK]

What kind of droppings?

Why the pine needles?

I wanted to add some sawdust type stuff to help improve the soil a bit. I think woody matter may also help with water retention. I was able to scrape fir needles, a few pinecones, small twigs, perhaps some moss, and whatever off of the driveway. While the firs are evergreens, they do shed quite a bit. I need to do some chipping soon, but had more access to the needles than the sawdust.

The tree is getting a lot of water, (drip irrigation), and will probably continue to get a healthy watering all summer, and probably next year too.

 

[sailfast]

Well you need to more concerned about the unintended effect of what you added might be.

The uncomposted needles will tend to make the soil more acidic. If whatever you planted likes acidic soil, you might be good. Was it a cherry tree? You might have gotten lucky.

Generally adding uncomposted stuff like wood chips, sawdust, etc randomly to soil isn't a good thing.

The bacteria that will be breaking down the wood and needles will be wanting Nitrogen for food. They can't get it from the wood so they will be competing with your tree for nitrogen in the soil.

Don't know what to tell you at this point. Digging it up to get rid of the wood needles probably isn't a good thing. Not sure about leaving it in now either. Don't know about fertilizing the tree either, depends upon the variety. Maybe you could use one of those root feeder gadgets. You should talk to an expert, maybe go onto the arborist site and get their opinion.

Good luck