support for Moving a lemon tree

Read with interest the advice written by Tony & Moria Ryan.  It was of course excellent advice.  Just to encourage you, we moved a lemon, several other citrus and several pome trees in the heat of summer.  They were free for the taking from someone who was clearing out property and tearing down a house to build a new one.  We took a lot of time and patience to do it and out of 13 treeS only lost 1.  We have clay soil and since it was so hot, we did almost exactly what they suggested on digging them out, digging a large ring around them quite deep, cutting under, sliding them onto burlap, having several men help us hoist them into a truck.  The main difference is we actually put them into huge tubs and set them in a somewhat shaded area under misters timed to come on a few times a day.  We let them aclimate this way and slowly moved them out into sun ! after several weeks, still misting them frequently then planting them into the garden in full sun.  We did really dig and chop the clay deep and fine so the roots could grow through it when we put them in and we mixed in compost.    One citrus was badly sunburned when we received it as somewhat had pruned it up the trunk a few feet.  I wrapped an ace bandage around it and sprinkled the trunk & bandage lightly every day ( in real hot weather).  We have since removed the bandage of course and painted exposed trunks with white latex.   Anyway, we have had them in 2 years now, have eaten Eureka lemons, meyer lemons, pomello, oranges, tangeloes, pears, nectarines and cherries from those trees we moved and soon will have our first apricots and more varieties of some of those already mentioned- including limes.  Was it worth a loooong weekend of digging, hauling and exhaustion in the heat.  YES!!!  The fruits of our efforts! are wonderful.  Carolyn  In Los Gatos, Silicon Valley area of Calif.
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