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Have you ever moved a small tree?

Lily PillyLily Pilly Posts: 3,845
in Plants
On removing the skirt of a majestic old blue spruce this weekend we uncovered a few surprises! An old set of fairy light was obviously celebrating a big event however the best find to us is a 6 ft sapling doing very nicely under mother’s skirts
this tree would be the perfect replacement for one we lost last year,
we have never moved anything just so big before. Do we still have our conifer expert?
i think I can do it in October but any advice would be very welcome
its a lovely wee tree and I am sure will love being released!
any advice very welcome
thanks
lily pilly
Weeds are flowers, too, once you get to know them.”
A A Milne
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Posts

  • Joyce21Joyce21 Posts: 15,489
    A friend moved a Sorbus 'Joseph Rock', maybe 5 feet high.  Two months before moving it he dug a trench round it about 3 feet away from the trunk and kept it well watered (into the trench).
    SW Scotland
  • punkdocpunkdoc Posts: 15,039
    I seem to remember that conifers were best moved in Spring, unlike deciduous trees, but I cannot be any more help than that.
    I suppose if you don't move it, both trees could end up dieing.
    How can you lie there and think of England
    When you don't even know who's in the team

    S.Yorkshire/Derbyshire border
  • wild edgeswild edges Posts: 10,497
    I've transplanted smaller conifers over the winter by just wiggling them out bare-root during very wet weather. I'm not sure how well rooted a 6' tree is going to be though but I think you'd damage the parent tree's roots if you dug it out wouldn't you? It's never going to do well where it is though so you've got nothing to lose if you try it.
    If you can keep your head, while those around you are losing theirs, you may not have grasped the seriousness of the situation.
  • MarlorenaMarlorena Posts: 8,705
    edited August 2018
    I don't have a blue Spruce - wish I did, but in the Spring, I transplanted a 6 foot tall Chamaecyparis Lawsoniana 'Pelt's Blue' conifer.  It came up quite easily, not too much of a rootball but I replanted it and watered in, and despite the extreme summer we've had, it's not flinched and has done very well.  I did cut about 1 and half feet off the top, and it's gone a little bare at the base, but not a problem..   

    Incidentally, if anyone is into conifers, I love them but don't want a garden full of them like at Bressingham for instance... but if you want one that is thoroughly drought tolerant, of a slim outline and slowish growth, then I recommend this particular one.  I've grown it before on a dry clay bank, and I've not watered it any further this summer since the replant...  its water requirements are very low indeed...

    photo taken today, showing some of the many little cones and the top of the plant where I cut it... it hasn't grown that much at the top since but that will come.. it's used to disguise a water butt as you can see...


    For your Spruce I would suggest a move in October or April... and I wouldn't see it as a huge problem... it's got two choices, live or die...
    East Anglia, England
  • Lily PillyLily Pilly Posts: 3,845
    Sorry for the delay blooming internet down again.
    thank you for all comments and suggestions. I shall do some more research
    we will give it a try!
    Weeds are flowers, too, once you get to know them.”
    A A Milne
  • Lily PillyLily Pilly Posts: 3,845
    We have eight of these, I knew when I bought them they were a risk and last winter they suffered severe damage as the snow got them while we were away. I have been blessed as they have all recovered. I haven’t watered them since April.
    Weeds are flowers, too, once you get to know them.”
    A A Milne
  • ObelixxObelixx Posts: 30,090
    The RHS site says moving evergreens is best done in October or March because of favourable soil temps.  Not from October to March!

    https://www.rhs.org.uk/advice/profile?pid=293 for more info.
    Vendée - 20kms from Atlantic coast.
    "The price good men (and women) pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men (and women)."
    Plato
  • Lily PillyLily Pilly Posts: 3,845
    edited August 2018
    Thanks so much. Very good of you to look it up!!!
    Weeds are flowers, too, once you get to know them.”
    A A Milne
  • ObelixxObelixx Posts: 30,090
    Pleasure LP.  I use the RHS site to check my facts as experience is so dependent on local conditions.   I also think the RHS is a great resource to share, and a forward thinking  organisation and needs more members, support and power to its assorted elbows.
    Vendée - 20kms from Atlantic coast.
    "The price good men (and women) pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men (and women)."
    Plato
  • hogweedhogweed Posts: 4,053
    I moved a 7+ foot eucalyptus in the middle of summer one year. I had given it as a seedling to a neighbour who decided he wanted rid when it grew too big for him. Canopy was a good 5+ across. He did not take any care when digging it up, as he just wanted rid of it. It came on fine - but then eucalyptus are quite hardy. Don't think I gave it any special attention. It grew like topsy and eventually I could not keep it in check any longer and it really did get the chop this time. But it was a lovely tree. 
    'Optimism is the faith that leads to achievement' - Helen Keller
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