How
to Transplant Trees
by LeAnn R. Ralph
With
a little patience and tender loving care, you can easily transplant
small trees that you have found growing in a ditch or that are
growing on one part of your property but that you would like to
move to another part of your property.
Spring
is the best time to transplant trees. Transplanting in the spring
will allow the trees to develop more roots before winter arrives
again and they go dormant.
Here
are 10 steps for transplanting trees:
1.
Identify and select the trees you would like to transplant. Smaller
is better, although if they are too small (seedlings that are
only a few inches high), their chances for survival are less.
Over the last 10 years, my husband and I have discovered that
the best sized trees for transplanting range from six inches to
two feet tall.
2.
Fill a bucket or another container half full of water. It is very
important to keep the roots of the tree wet between the time you
dig it up and the time you transplant it, even if you are digging
up the tree and moving it immediately. Trees cannot seem to tolerate
their roots drying out, even if it's only for five minutes.
3.
Dig carefully around the tree using a spade or a shovel. Remember
that there is as much tree below ground as you can see above ground.
In other words, if the tree is 10 inches high and the branches
all together from side to side measure 20 inches, that means the
tap root is 10 inches deep and that the other roots spread out
from around the tree at least 10 inches on each side. The wider
and deeper you can dig around the tree, the less likely it is
that you will be cutting roots.
If you can avoid cutting too many roots, your tree will stand
a better chance of surviving.
4.
Put the tree in the pail of water after you have dug it out of
the ground.
5.
Dig a hole where you want to transplant the tree. Make sure the
hole is big enough to accommodate the length of the tap root and
the width of the other roots. For good measure, you might want
to put manure in the bottom of the hole so that the tree has some
fertilizer. (You can buy dried manure in bags at garden shops.)
6.
Pour water into the hole before putting the tree into the hole.
This will ensure that there is plenty of moisture at the tip of
the roots.
7.
Place the tree in the center of the hole. Keeping the tree level,
put dirt back into the hole around the roots.
8.
Leave a shallow depression three or four inches deep all the way
around the tree instead of mounding the dirt up around the trunk.
When it comes time to water the tree, if you leave a shallow reservoir
around the trunk, the water will have a chance to soak in right
by the tree instead of draining away.
9.
Pour several gallons of water around the tree after you have planted
it. Transplanted trees need more water than other trees to help
them get over the shock of being moved.
10.
Water your transplanted trees regularly during the summer and
early fall. For larger trees, give five gallons of water. For
smaller trees, give one to two gallons of water. Water your trees
every other day if it is dry where you live or if you have drought
conditions. If it is raining regularly (1 to 2 inches per week
or more), water two or three times a week. Continue watering throughout
the first year and
the second year. After the trees have become established, you
will not have to water them as much, and eventually, you won't
have to water them at all.
Observations
about transplanting trees:
1.
If you transplant a deciduous tree after the tree has leaves (oak,
maple, or other trees with leaves), and the tree loses its leaves,
do not give up hope. We have transplanted small maple trees with
leaves that immediately lost their leaves. A couple of weeks later,
the trees sprouted new leaves and went on growing as if nothing
had happened.
2.
Trees that are watered regularly grow faster than trees that do
not receive as much water. A few years ago after we had transplanted
a couple of maple trees, I missed one (couldn't see it in the
tall grass around it). I watered the other trees I could see,
but the one I couldn't see got left out. In the fall, I discovered
the tree I had missed, and I noticed that over the summer, the
other trees had grown
much more than the one which did not receive water.
3.
If you transplant a pine tree and the needles turn brown, that's
it for the pine tree. None of the pine trees we have transplanted
that turned brown have ever come back.
4.
Be careful about digging up trees to transplant that are not on
your property. In the state of Wisconsin, for example, it is illegal
to dig up anything that is in a state park or is growing in the
ditch along a road that runs through a state park. And of course,
if the trees are on someone else's property, make sure that you
receive permission from the landowner.
© LeAnn R. Ralph
Are you looking for a good book to read? LeAnn R. Ralph is the
author of the books "Christmas in Dairyland (True Stories
from a Wisconsin Farm" (trade paperback 2003); "Give
Me a Home Where the Dairy Cows Roam" (trade paperback 2004);
"Preserve Your Family History (A Step-by-Step Guide for Interviewing
Family
Members and Writing Oral Histories" (e-book 2004). You are
invited to read sample chapters and to sign up for the free monthly
newsletter, Rural
Route 2 News.