Moving a Maple

[jwholden]

Today we moved a Laceleaf Japanese Maple that had to be put off when this landscape was installed in late spring. The digging went well and we got a nice clean cut on all of the roots. The tree was well watered in and we used three small packs of roots on it.

I'm happy with the way things came out, yet would like to have gotten a bigger ball. I adjusted the size to be sure I could move it with my bobcat. I would like to have another six to twelve inches in diameter on that puppy.

I have no doubt the maple will make it through the transplant well. It has the rest of this fall, winter, and next spring to get a nice root system established before the heat of the summer.

A few shots. ;)

[jwholden]

The guys are getting way too used to the digital camera being on site. :D

[jwholden]

The maple in it's new home. :cigar:

[dan deutekom]

Looking at that root ball I have no doubt that this tree will survive the transplanting well. I usually have to burlap and rope a rootball like that so that it won't fall apart during the move. I think your rootball size looks perfect :D

[agla]

Looks good. Should be no problem.

Assuming, I can attach this photo - We moved this maple back in '88. It was early July in the high 90's. In fact it was so hot that a racoon was sleeping on an oak branch outside of his hole in the tree. It was a case of move it or lose it. It was all hand work including the moving (~20'). It took all day, but it lived.

That was my father hanging out with the tree. The tree belonged to an owner of a large wholesale nursery and sod company here in Massachusetts. My father landscaped the house about 20 years before we moved this for an addition on the house.

Your picture reminded me of this. It is a fond memory now that he is no longer with us.

[jwholden]

Agla,

That's a nice memory of you and your Dad.

I'm constantly amazed at how 'delicate' trees like laceleafs are really darn tough. I'm eager to get my specimen gardens going at the house so I can grow my own plants and make a bundle in the process.

A story you may appreciate working at a LA Firm (atleast that's what it sounds like you do).

The guy whose house this is at is construction superintendent at a local community college that had a several million dollar addition built. The landscaper who got the job got a laceleaf from North Carolina for the plantings which had to have been drafted and supervised by a LA firm. It was dug in JUNE. They paid $6000 for this tree which was the focalpoint of the landscape. Needless to say, the poor tree dropped EVERY leaf within three days. When I asked today how the tree was doing the guy said no leaves yet but the landscaper says it will come back in the Spring. I feel sorry for that poor tree and I pray that God opened the gates of heaven for it.

[agla]

As most of you know, it makes little sense to have office guys, acedemics, and egg heads supervise things that are best done by people who have done it over and over again. They can design, they can spec it, but unless they have done it, they can't feel it. When you work with these living things for a long time, you know what you can get away with and what you can't. The text book is better than no guide, but not as good as someone that has been there.

And, yes I am the landscape architect at a Land Planning Company and also work part time for a design/build landscape company (that I used to work for full time). I do more civil engineering design work at my full time job than what most usually think of as LA work. I grew up with a shovel in my hand, then went to LA school (degree in '97, license in '00, I'm 41).

[Stonehenge]

JW - That's a gorgeous tree. :) It's just too cold around here for a laceleaf to do very well without some serious microclimate improvements. We planted one as the focal point to a small garden walk at a Frank Lloyd Wright home

How many man-hours did you have in on that transplant? (And how much did you charge?)

Agla, thanks for posting that pic and sharing that fond memory with the rest of us. :)

[jwholden]

Hmmm...

Picked the guys up at 8:30.

Got supplies and drive time arrived around 10:00.

Dug maple carefully cause even though we don't guarantee transplants that puppy would easily get around 4K by me.

Ball complete and loose around 1:30.

Planting was pretty straightforward and if only one tree would have been done 3:30ish. Had to get topsoil and mulch and move a Stewartia we heeled in on the site to replace this maple. Raked out the soil and planted vinca as well. Got the guys back at 6:00.

This was part of the job we did this Spring when I was hungrier for work so I didn't get too crazy. I would like to get between 1000 and 1500 for this type of move if it was just that tree.

[jwholden]

While we're talking about growing up.

I'm second generation out of New York. I love working with plants and knew this is what I wanted to do with my life. However, my father sold insurance and my mom was a paralegal. Golf was considered outdoor recreation. When my Dad heard this is what I wanted to do with my life he said that you don't make a lot of money in that field (Dad, so far your right).

I mowed lawns around the block and worked at a local garden center and sold christmas trees to get a feel for the field. But frankly, my college degree didn't teach me squat about the practical day to day side of operations. They should teach courses like dealing with customers successfully, how to keep employees motivated and in line, duct tape 101, driving a standard and backing up a trailer, etc.

The ten years of time invested in this field after school is what taught me what I know today and has given me the confiedence to take my company in a new (and exciting) direction. Hands on experience is the only way to learn this trade, and under the direction of an experienced and successful businessman.

[agla]

I guess that I would be second generation in landscape and first generation American.

I am not sure what you are saying about your college degree. Do you think it was worth it, or not? I really think that it makes a big difference for a landscape person to have a degree of some sort.

While experience is putting the rubber to the road, having an added perspective, exposure to broader subjects, and learning about other methods really helps you process what you learn from that experience.

Formal education with no experience is like playing a video game - you believe you have all the answers, but you haven't really done anything to back it up.

Experience with no education limits you to only the cards that are dealt to you. In other words, if you have not had the occaission to have worked for someone that really knows what he is doing, how valid is the experience that you get? If you rely only on your own experience or by mimmicking what you see others doing without a complete understanding of why, how valid is the experience?

By adding to that work experience with education, it is like having a copy of the other teams play book. When something happens you have a better chance of knowing why so that you can avoid mistakes and duplicate success.

People can make it on experience alone, but you can not deny that adding education to it is going to allow you to understand what you are experiencing a lot more.

I know many landscapers who Lime every fall and have no idea that it is to lower acidity. All they know is that it is something they need to do in the fall.

[jwholden]

Agla,

Sometimes I get on a tangent about college.

YES, it definitely was worth it!

My time in college taught me the backround about horticulture and I definitely know the why and not just the how. I also realize that there are more than ten plants out there to use in landscapes, even if I use the same ten all the time.

College helped me more than just with horticulture. The four years I invested shows the world that I am dedicated and I can talk to my college level clients without being intimidated. Further, my time living in the dorms taught me a lot about getting along, or not, with people. Finally, I know how to research and solve problems.

I think that more hands on time in college would have been helpful. However, I could have gotten a job at a nursery or grower to gain this valuable experience myself. I was just making too much money cutting grass to consider this option!

[jwholden]

Same maple almost two years later...

[agla]

Nicely done!

[jwholden]

Am I beating this one to death?

This is a shot of new roots growing on a laceleaf we transplanted about six weeks ago. The root was clean cut with a saw and new roots are coming along wonderfully. I have never seen a better example of new roots regenerating.

We moved this maple, for the second time this year, very gently about 3' today, they look much bigger when they leaf out.

[jwholden]

Here is a smaller root regenerating. The soil was full of nice white new roots and plenty of earthworms as well.

The next opportunity I get I I'm going to conduct an expirement. Move one laceleaf by cleanly cutting all of the roots and another using nothing but a shovel and an axe. Then observe which survives the move better.

[Hamons]

Tell is more about your method of using a saw. I am very interested

[jwholden]

Hamons,

When I was in school I learned a clean cut root is better for a tree than a hacked root. If you are using a backhoe it is better to go back and cleanly cut the roots rather than leave them ripped to shreds. Until I took this picture I believed what I read with no 'proof'.

As mentioned, I (my crew) dug this maple for transplanting about six weeks ago and cut with a saw, loppers, or pruners all roots encountered. Six weeks later the soil is full of new roots.

[Paul]

JW have you ever used a King Of Spade straight blade ?
here's a link http://www.forestry-suppliers.com/product_pages/view_catalog_page.asp?id=6637

If you keep it sharp you shouldn't need to use your pruners on your transplants.

[jwholden]

I have three. I like the long blade for smaller stuff I'm popping out like azaleas, rhodies, and ornamental grasses. I get great leverage with it. I use the shorter blade for digging balls on larger trees and shrubs. An angle grinder with a flap disk is AWSOME to keep in the truck for keeping spades and digging spades sharp.

[Stonehenge]

I always thought those looked like tough shovels - good to hear others like them.

We don't transplant much, so we sometimes feel like we're out of our element when doing so - good to read up on some good tips. :D

[VoodooChile]

We refer to the "King of Spades" as "The Bomber" for it lays all to waste that crosses its path.

I used it this weekend to rip out all the duct work in the old part of our new house. A true animal tool!

[Nebraska]

Is there a benefit doing it this labor intensive way versus using a tree spade to move the tree?

[jwholden]

Neb,

I have never hired a spade so I don't really know the difference. If I had to move a bunch of large trees in a wide open area I would call a spade and find out what it is all about.

My jobs are usually moving the odd specimen here or there on the property or some overgrown rhodies to screen an obtrusive view. Doesn't make sense to call the spade for those situations.

I occasionally find myself putting too much effort into saving some tree or shrub that looks like it would be better off being replaced. However, nine times out of ten the shrub in its new location makes it all worth while.

[Bill Schwab]

We used to use King of Spades everywhere. Now the only place they really work well is in the coastal zone soils which are mainly sand and sandstone. They are great shovels for prying tree boxes from one side of the hole to the next, or rotating by nailing a strap onto the box if 2x4's snap.

A must have in a landscapers list of work weapons!

[Stonehenge]

Ok, ok, I'll get one - Bill's prying comment sealed the deal. If you can crank on the thing without doing damage to it, I'm game.

As a side note, we just transplanted a cherry tree on our property - this one isn't doing nearly as well as the transplanted Austrian. We followe dthe same steps, pruning the roots and all. However, we made the rootball a bit bigger, and in so doing probably beat it up a bit getting it to it's new home, because it was too far away from the forks and too heavy to move smoothly. Also, it was just finishing up it's production of cherries - not an opportune time to transplant, but we either had to do that now, or cut it down later.

I've hit it twice with an anti-transpirant and have been keeping it hydrated, but every afternoon it looks very wilty, and each morning it comes back less and less.

Any tips on saving this one?

[Hamons]

I recently bought some really nice spades from this place

http://www.borderconcepts.com/tools.asp


They havea king od spades eaquivialnt shovel and lots of other STRONG steel shovels.

They shipped them to me ina bout 3 days.

I highly reccomend them.

Also, soem you hardscape guiys might be interested in their paver restraints.

[jwholden]

Jeff,

I never have luck moving cherries. I have transplanted two weeping Higans and they both survived, but barely. When I buy thundercloud flowering plums they always seem to have very weak roots. I am at the point that I recommend replacing rather than moving Cherries and Plums, they grow very quickly anyway.

I don't want to say kiss it goodbye, but don't expect it to look too good for a while (and possibly ever).

A tree that is not easy to transplant, such as that Cherry, would be a definite candidate for early spring. I am fearless about transplanting easy stuff like a rhodie, burning bush, or viburnum this time of the year.

Bill, last year a lightbulb finally came on in my head and I realized that if I jam a pry bar behind the cage on a larger caliper tree I can use it as a lever to GENTLY rotate a tree.

[site]

Jeff you can give it root stimulator We use one mad by fertiloam that works pretty well. Also, don't give up on the steady care even if it's looking bad. You can also try building a shade structure over it if that is worth the effort. We had to move a japanese maple like the one in the picture last summer. It wilted, and looked like it would die. We gave it plenty of tlc for the remainder of the summer- and all summer it looked like a total loss. This spring it came back like nothing had ever happened.

[trees]

Jeff-

Site is right on. I'm not saying the tree won't die, because cherries are notoriously picky, but keep up with the TLC & make sure you're not overwatering (remember that the symptoms for over- & underwatering are identical) as cherries really resent wet feet. Also, expect it to go dormant early this year (and maybe next depending on how large it is). A tree that drops its leaves is usually going to leaf back out, but if the leaves hang on & turn brown -- bad news...

Good luck!

[Stonehenge]

I picked up some Fertilome root stimulator today, trenched around the rootball and applied the mix and re-covered.

I'm probably overwatering a bit, as the leaves are turning pale, but they do seem to be doing better in terms of wilt and curl. I fully expect it to defoliate in a few weeks, but it appears to already have buds set, so we'll see what happens.

Thanks for the info, as this is a really attractive tree that I'd really love to see make it. Funny thing is I never knew how nice it was until we pulled it our from behind the Austrian I moved previously, and a 8" caliper apple tree. This tree blooms very well, has a great shape and is just a very attractive tree in general. It's about 5-6" caliper.

[Stonehenge]

Update: We're still in a holding pattern with this tree - there are about 30 leaves left on the tips of about a dozen branches (and it's been that way for about 2-3 weeks), but those leaves appear green and healthy. Inspection of the cambium in several branches shows it still green and moist.

Buds have not yet broken for new growth, and with each week that goes by I wonder if the tree may just call it a season. Whatever the case, I'm encouraged that 5 weeks after transplant it appears the tree is still hanging in there.

[VoodooChile]

I hope to move my daughter Lilly's birth tree this Fall to our new home, a 20' Amur Chokecherry (Prunus maackii ) that's about 4" caliper.

I had wondered how well it's shallow root-system would take transplant. Sounds like I best look into a spade...