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Tree help

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memmo

09-08-2005 12:36:44




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I have a number of pine and spruce trees around my farm. Planted to make the place look neater and more attractive. This year several of my young trees have died. I have a row of trees which I will use to replace the ones lost. These trees are about 3 to 4 feet tall. My question to you is can trees of this size be transplanted? If so when is the best time, fall or spring. Also any hints to help make the transplant successful. Thanks so much!!

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John A.

09-08-2005 21:04:13




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 Re: Tree help in reply to memmo, 09-08-2005 12:36:44  
Memmo, I like Txguy have transplanted too many trees to count. Too determine what size root ball you need doo this....@ the 6in grade line. or in laymans terms 6 ins above the soil line determine the diameter of the trunk. if dthe trunk is 3ins then the correct size root ball is 3 feet.
The rule of thumb is for every inch of diameter on the trunk then you need 1ft of root mass. Here in Texas later fall to late spring is optimum for plant and or transplanting trees.
We do not bother with what direction N is, it has no bearing on the tree what so ever. We turn the tree so that it is the most astecically appealing to the new location it is being planted. We just make sure it is perpendiculat as possible.
A 3/4 ft tree should never know it got moved. Keep it watered very,very,well. The tree to be dug nees watering if you are already in a drought situation before you dig. The soil in the rootball should hold together reasonably well when yoy dig it. Wrap the rootball with burlap after you get it out or before if you are haveing problems with it. Depending ou your soil type.
After planting, water the tree frequiently to avoid Shock. Remember for the next 2 yrs you hace a really big "potted plant" next summer water about every other day! Be careful and gentle with it and you should do just fine. Hope this helps.
Later,
John A.

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msb

09-08-2005 19:53:18




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 Re: Tree help in reply to memmo, 09-08-2005 12:36:44  
Don't know it it is true or not.Have always been told to orient the trees the same as they were before.If a certain branch points north then transplant it with the branch also pointing north.



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Txguy

09-08-2005 19:35:00




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 Re: Tree help in reply to memmo, 09-08-2005 12:36:44  
All interesting answers, but not exactly as I was taught. You didn"t indicate what part of the country your in, I suppose that could make a difference too. I was taught to always transplant in the winter, and the colder the better. Obviously if your up north in the frozen tundra I"m sure January would be out of the question. But, when I lived in the Dallas area I transplanted quite a few trees in December and January and they were larger that the 4 feet your talking about. I pruned the trees, usually took a lot out of the top. After digging them up, I did a lot of root pruning which I was told encouraged growth in the spring. I was also told to dig the hole twice as wide and twice as deep as the root ball, that is the most fun part! Of course once you get it set in the hole and backfilled, I always made a damn around the hole to help hold in the water and I watered them a lot even in the dead of winter. Oh yea, don"t forget to stake them so they don"t move around. I used some 3/4 galvinized pipe to drive in the ground, and some heavy wire or rope to attach to the tree. A minimum of 3 stakes, and don"t tie to tight as you want to allow just a little bit of movement. Every tree I ever transplanted survived well, so either I was lucky or I was taught correctly.

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Les

09-09-2005 03:50:27




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 Re: Tree help in reply to Txguy, 09-08-2005 19:35:00  
Here's a link you might be interested in.
You had me until you said something about staking them. If you stake them at all, it should only be temporary. Trees need to sway with the wind.



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Txguy

09-09-2005 04:47:46




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 Re: Tree help in reply to Les, 09-09-2005 03:50:27  
Hey, that's a great link! I see I was told most of what that said anyway. I didn't see mention of digging twice as deep, but it did say 3 times as wide. Now that would have saved a lot of back breaking digging. As for staking, yes indeed I always had to stake. The soil there was that black gumbo, and getting it to settle and fill all the voids was nearly impossible so the tree would be very loose in the ground for quite some time even after watering over and over. The key was to not have it too tight, and in the spring as it started to grow you had to loosen the wire a few times until it was finally removed which I normally did in the summer because we had so much wind in the spring. One year I bought 2 live oak trees in the winter at a nursery cheap since it was out of season. They were potted, and about 5 feet tall when I planted them. 2 years later I dug one up as it was too close to the other one, and too close to the house (plan ahead, me?). I did this the week between Christmas and New Years. Neeless to say, I had already chosen it's new home and had the hole dug and ready before digging up the tree. I transplanted exactly as I said with the exception that I left it staked for 2 years as it was about 7 feet tall when I moved it and pretty spindly. I think I had to put slack in the wire a half dozen times over that 2 year period, but it did quite well and actully when we sold that place the transplanted tree was larger and looked better than the mate that I didn't move.

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Leland

09-08-2005 19:32:09




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 Re: Tree help in reply to memmo, 09-08-2005 12:36:44  
Is this a wet area ? on our place pines don't last long with wet feet . and how often are you watering ? You may need to buy a tank and water them 3 times a week those pines neeed a lot of water to survive until they devolep a root system re planted many before I learned this.



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jimNCal

09-08-2005 19:13:00




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 Re: Tree help in reply to memmo, 09-08-2005 12:36:44  
Only thing I can add to the advice below is to dig MUCH deeper than you need and refill with a LITTLE amendments to encourage the roots to grow DOWN as fast as possible.

jim



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Stan(PA)

09-08-2005 17:08:44




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 Re: Tree help in reply to memmo, 09-08-2005 12:36:44  
Do a combination of what Bill and Bo said. Only things I would add: 1)When doing the root pruning, do half the roots now, and the other half in a month or two. Then replant tree, with rootball, in the new location. 2)I would transplant in the Fall. Even evergreens are semi-dormant then, and respond well to the wet spring growth period. With that being said... sometimes you can just dig them up and transplant, and they acclimate beautifully. Sometimes, you do everything right, and the doggone things just die off. In any event, good luck. I hope they work out....Stan

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Bill in NorthCentral PA

09-08-2005 13:46:25




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 Re: Tree help in reply to memmo, 09-08-2005 12:36:44  
We transplant our trees in both Spring and Fall, both with good results. I think that the contributors to success are water and soil conditions. Some (most) don't like wet feet. Having said this, I do recommend watering every three days for two weeks, then every 7 days until established. A point about watering - when watering, water alot, meaning fully saturate to the bottom of the root ball to encourage roots to go down. I usually think about ten minutes of garden hose per tree per watering.

Good Luck,

Bill

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bo

09-08-2005 13:37:56




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 Re: Tree help in reply to memmo, 09-08-2005 12:36:44  
Root prune...go down with a spade around the root ball and slice all the roots at the drip line of the trees. This will cause the tree to shoot out new feeder roots and then you can dig with all new feeder roots. How long do you wait for the feeder roots...dunno...a couple of months maybe.
Wait for someone smarter than me to answer. Root pruning is a must though.



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