Moving an Acer

jnelson · January 2023

Morning all and happy New Year, not posted on here for a while and hope you can help, I have an Acer approx 7ft tall that needs relocating, it has rooted through the pot against the back wall of the house, can I do this now and is it ok to prune it to reduce the height first ? Thanks

Fairygirl · January 2023

I'd prune it and move it with as big a rootball as you can, assuming your growing conditions are suitable for that just now.
Then cross your fingers

It may not appreciate it unfortunately. Keep it somewhere out of any wild swings of weather and temps, until it shows signs of recovery. If you're re potting it rather than planting out, you can also root prune it a little, and choose a pot that accommodates the root ball, but isn't too much bigger.

punkdoc · January 2023

It will have a big root ball, up to the width of the canopy, so dig carefully.

Fairygirl · January 2023

I wonder if it's worth trying the method for moving large established shrubs @punkdoc?
The 'slicing through the root system in a circle' thing, then leaving in situ until later in the year.

punkdoc · January 2023

Yes, @Fairygirl, I think that would give the best chance of success for such a large Acer.

Fairygirl · January 2023

Yes - I think it might give the best chance @punkdoc. I just wasn't sure if it would work with something like an Acer, although I couldn't see why it wouldn't.

@jnelson - if you decide to do this, try and find the item on Beechgrove they did a few years ago. I think it was Chris Beardshaw and Carole who did it with a camellia[?] and they followed up the method to show how it was doing. It may be that you can't leave it in situ for several months though

thevictorian · January 2023

I'd first ask, how long has it been in the pot? If it's only a year or two then the roots that have escaped won't go that far but if it's been longer then the method described above may be the way to go. I would, because I'm impatient, see if I could find the root spread by gently teasing the ground and see if it was possible to move it sooner.
Depending on how much root you get and where you want to put it, you might not need to prune it. Pruning tends to ruin the natural shape so I'd only prune if you find you have to, determined by how much root you can get.

jnelson · January 2023

Thanks all, I think I'll try to find the Beechgrove episode first thanks Fairygirl, I'm planning to plant it in the ground where it has some shelter from the worst of the weather so fingers crossed

Fairygirl · January 2023

Good luck with it. It's one of those tricky situations that - you won't know how hard it is to move or dig out until you have a look.

I assumed it had been there a good while in the pot, due to it's size, and as they're mostly pretty slow growing, but have a look at the spread of the root system, as @thevictorian says. It may well be a reasonable size, and you might be able to get it out easily enough.

jnelson · January 2023

Yes it's been in the pot for a long time, it's tall but not that wide, it needs to be moved to allow renovation work on the wall, I'd hate to lose it but I've got to try so fingers crossed

Moving an Acer

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