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Transplanting trees

Daver

Daver

PMA Member
I am planning on letting my 12 year son, who is very interested in trees, transplant a couple of trees from our farm to our home. I was thinking about letting him dig up a shingle oak this weekend say around 6' to 8' tall.

How big of a root ball do we need to have and/or are there are tips or advice that we should be aware of?
 
That big of oak would be very difficult to successfully dig and replant by hand. I have transplanted a lot of trees with a tree spade and found that you are almost always better off choosing a smaller tree that you can effectively remove most of the root ball. A smaller tree will often surpass a larger tree in growth that was transplanted at the same time. Oaks tend to have large deep taproots that makes them difficult to dig. My suggestion would be to find a 2-3' tree.
 
I would fully agree with Gerald...you would be lucky to successfully transplant an Oak of that size using a shovel.

Dig the hole where the tree will be transplanted bigger and deeper than the root ball of the tree.

Hand pack good top soil all around the new root ball making sure there are no air gaps.

Water very well for several weeks to give it a good start.
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I don't know oaks...but I think I know trees, I think I do.
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Anyways, the root ball should be at least as big as the drip line of the tree. I'm not sure what the drip line on an oak that size would be but know that a spruce or a pine or a birch that size would be impossible to move with a shovel.

I've found the smaller ones you move quickly catch up to the larger ones anyways b/c they deal with it better. I have some lodgepole and Scots Pines that have surpassed some jack pines in the past few yrs. The jack pines were moved at 3-4 ft tall, the lodgepole and Scots were maybe 18" when I put them in and the jacks are the native ones.
 
I transplanted some trees last spring. I found out that the roots are just about as long as the tree itself. I think this year I will just stick to buying the trees to create my wind break.
 
I agree with the recommendations on size. I've moved a few shingle oaks before and they seem to be readily transplanted. My dad took several off our farm and they all thrived after being moved.
 
Well call me stubborn... we looked for a 3 footer, we really did. But we ended up trying about a 6 footer. Combine some good ol' fashioned southern Iowa clay soil, a root ball that probably weighed 500 punds, an ATV with a tow chain
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and an overly ambitious 6th grader and you have father and son digging non-stop for about 3 hours and NO TREE to show for it. I just hope no one was taking any pictures!
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Not that I doubted the advice provided... but now I am CONVINCED that about a 3 footer would be the maximum size to dig by hand.
 
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father and son digging non-stop for about 3 hours

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I give you credit for that part Dave!
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I prefer to only dig one hole so transplanting is high on my "not to do" list
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fall is the best time to transplant that way they get 2 growing seasons before any stress is placed on them
 
Does it matter if they still have their leaves or should I wait till late Fall as they are going dormant?
 
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Does it matter if they still have their leaves or should I wait till late Fall as they are going dormant?

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I would at least wait until it cools down some. I transplanted some last week, but they were grown in tree pro containers so all the roots came out intact and they were already used to full sun.

If you are digging up and going to lose some roots definitely wait till they go dormant, but as soon as they go dormant so they can start growing roots this fall.

I would at least wait until it cools down some.
 
Here is what the tree pro's look like. They trap the roots as they grow to the edge so it sends out new roots. This way there is no root circling.
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I have trans planted 6 to 8 foot tall oaks before . and I have found the best time to do them is in november if you do it now you will have about a 20% success rate
 
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