Many trees fail due to root injury and lack of preparation when planting or transplanting. The tree begins to die back from the outer portions inward and from the top down. With care, however, the home gardener can move small trees carefully. A tree with a trunk up to 1 foot in diameter is in the plant-it-yourself category. The more mature the tree, the more difficult it is to move, though professional tree movers can transplant even large trees successfully.
Deciduous trees are best moved in spring, before leaves being to appear, or in fall, after leaves drop. Evergreen trees are best planted in September.
Hole preparation: Prepare the receiving hole before moving the tree. The root system of the tree to be moved probably spreads as far as the branches; the hole needs to be twice that width. Dig the hole deep enough to allow the tree to remain at its current level. If soil is sandy or heavy clay, improve it with organic material.
If soil turns out to be hardpan, you have a problem. Sometimes referred to as shallow soil or caliche, hardpan is formed by extensive compact from construction or it may be the natural soil formation in the region. Hardpan may feel like bed rock, but it is not. Bedrock is actually solid rock. If you find it, plant elsewhere or do container gardening.
When you hit hardpan, your shovel feels like it has hit brick. Instead of moving easily through soil, you scrape dirt away a bit at a time. Eventually, if you scrape down far enough, you may get through the hardpan. Bit if can extent for quite a distance.
You must provide good soil to allow root penetration to the full depth and width of eventual root growth. This will be approximately equal to the branch spread of the full-grown tree.
Even if you are able to complete the hole, the remaining hardpan can present a problem for the tree planted in it. Rain or irrigation water tends to remain in hardpan for hours or even days. Standing water blocks nutrient absorption and invites fungi and bacteria. To compensate, you should make the hole ven larger than normal, difficult as that may be.
If you decide to finish the digging yourself, drill through soil with an auger or posthole digger. Break up the hardpan to a depth of 2 feet for trees, 1 foot for shrubs. A less strenuous option is to plow he hardpan and complete the digging. Do not put hardpan back into the hole. Back fill with topsoil mixed with organic material.
Do not plant a tree in uncorrected hardpan. Not only will it not prosper, its roots will remain shallow, and a heavy windstorm could topple it.
If the work or expense of planting in hardpan does not coincide with your definition of recreational gardening, remember the option of planting the tree in a container. Drought-tolerant species that perform adequately in restricted growing places include silk trees, redbuds, dwarf mugo pines, and strawberry trees.
Tree Preparation for Transplanting: Cut back about one third of the tree before digging it out. This lessens nutrient need until roots take hold and reduces the area exposed to drying sun and wind. Do not just cut from the top down; prune broken and crossing branches and branches that are too close to each other.
To excavate a tree 10 feet high, dig a trench at least 4 feet in diameter and about 18 inches deep. Generally, roots spread as far as branches. If thick roots obstruct the space, move farther away from the trunk and, with a digging fork, carefully remove anchoring soil from around the exposed roots. Leave as much soil around the roots as possible. Sway the plant gently to loosen the tree’s hold.
The Move: With a ball of earth surrounding the roots, immediately move the tree into the receiving hole. Do not let the roots dry out. If the move will take some time, use a trunk spray to slow down water loss or wrap the trunk of a thin-barked tree, such as birch, with burlap. Leave the burlap on the tree for the first year after transplanting.
Continuing Care: With careful transplanting, you have given the tree a boost toward a long healthy life in the new site. The transplant still needs your special attention, however.
Place a 4-inch-deep layer of mulch around the transplanted tree to further conserve moisture. To prevent fungal diseases encouraged by moisture buildup, keep mulch away from the trunk. Don’t over water or over fertilize-that may stimulate top growth that the traumatized roots cannot handle.
Sucker Pruning: Suckers may appear around the base of a transplanted tree. If this happens and no top growth is evident, the tree has sustained damage that may hinder its survival. In such a situation, suckers indicate root injury and the failure to prune the treetop sufficiently before transplanting. Keeping suckers diligently pruned may help the tree to recover.
Trunk Support: In heavy wind areas, a transplanted trunk may need support. There are two widely used methods of wind staking. The first is to hammer a strong stake near the center of the hole, then set the tree close to the stake. Since this method presents the possibility of the trunk rubbing the stake, some gardeners prefer a two-stake method. This involves placing a stake at either side of the tree but not touching it. These stakes should be aligned at a right angle to the usual wind direction. Either rot-resistant wood stakes or metal ones serve the purpose.
In the past, experts thought using tall stakes was necessary to prevent any tree movement. Current studies indicate that some trunk movement encourages eventual sturdiness. Using short stakes might be an effective compromise. Allow some room for tree sway when installing the stakes, and orient the tree so that the side with the most branches faces into the wind. Place the largest root in the direction of the wind for strongest support. Loosely connect each stake to the tree with a nonabrasive tape in a figure-eight pattern. Do not use rope or wire, which will cut into the tree.
Another option, often used for larger trees, is to hammer 3 or 4 pegs into the ground several feet from the tree base. The tree is then secured to the pegs with shielded wires. A piece of old garden hose makes an excellent shield, or purchase shielded holding wires designed for trunk support. After the first year, if the tree is flourishing and seems well-established, remove the stakes of guide wires. Remove all restraints by the second year.
Trunk injury may occur when wires or other restraints are left on a growing tree. Sometimes the restraints become so embedded in the tree that they are almost invisible. Since the nutrient system for the tree is directly under the bark, such a restraint begins to choke off circulation. New leaves may be small and discolored, twigs and then larger branches may die, and tree growth may slow. The entire tree above the restraint can die. Removing an embedded restraint can be difficult. However, the deeper it gets, the more circulation it impedes. Use wire cutters at exposed sites. If you cannot free the embedded material, consult an arborist.
