Ruud Kleinpaste: Things to consider when planting and transplanting trees

Saturday Morning with Jack Tame

Winter dormancy is the best time to shift a tree or a shrub (or plant a new one), especially when they originate from a “temperate climate” (the kind that shed their leaves and hail from UK, Europe, North America, etc).

When considering shifting a sub-tropical/semi tropical one, wait a little to just before spring sets in (mid-end September).

These sub-tropicals do not really like to be dumped into a wet and cold soil for many weeks of deepest winter – it could kill them! Besides, as discussed last week, with these cold and wet soils all kinds of Root Rots (Phytophthora, Armillaria, Pithium, etc) might terminally affect your trees.

Here are some ideas to make it work as well as possible:

1) Consider the size of the tree – smaller ones are much easier to (trans)plant than big ones.

2) Get a “trenching spade”. These long, narrow, sturdy blades are much more efficient at digging into cold, wet clay soils than the ordinary, wider spades.

3) Destination site – select the site where the tree has to go and dig a rather huge hole – you can’t really dig big enough, as no matter what the root ball will be, a lot of extra drainage is always going to be beneficial. Drainage away from the root ball to be planted helps to avoid Root Rots.

Mix in some pumice or compost in the loose soil material, so that it will become friable and nutritious with organic material; the tree will appreciate this new site as it has plenty of drainage and food.

4) Original site: with the trenching spade dig a circular shape around the tree’s root-zone – remember that the wider you go, the heavier the root ball will be, you might need a bit of neighbourly help to lift the bugger out! Approx. 30 to 40 cm radius from the tree’s stem is pretty good

Try to get as many roots across as possible as the tree will re-establish better.

5) Levering with the trenching spade, remove the tree and its root ball out of its original site and transport it on a wheelbarrow to the destination site. If the soil starts to fall off the roots, use a hessian sack to wrap it all up before moving.

6) Plant the tree at destination site as soon as possible to prevent drying out. The level of the tree’s soil should be the same at the new site – don’t plant it deeper than it was before! In the unlikely event of destination site being too dry, fill the planting hole with water before the shift.

7) Stake the new tree to anchor it. Provide it with a bit of wind-shelter (windbreak) for the first year or so, firm the soil around the roots. Top-dress in spring with some slow-release fertilizer.

If you’ve lost a lot of roots in the shift, prune the tops of the tree to restore the root/foliage balance.

8) I prefer to add some 3-4 inches of mulch over the root zone to keep moisture in and keep roots cool in summer. Keep the mulch away from the stem of the tree to avoid collar rots.

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