Re: Part 2 - moving Japanese Maple?

Continuation of tree moving from Part 1

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Once you've got the material under the plant, bring it up around the
rootball and tie or pin it tightly around the trunk....you want as
snug a fit around the rootball as possible.

Get your boards into play again, this time having positioned boards
or plywood at the edge of the hole and as far under the rootball as
you can get them. Lever the root ball up onto the largest piece of
plywood and drag the plywood to the new location, where you have,
hopefully, pre-dug a new home for this tree.

You can also buy handtrucks for moving rootballs, but they run about
$250.00US or more...I've also seen two man carrying cradles - metal,
but that means you've got to have someone strong enough to get this
*very* heavy ball or earth off the ground.  I find dragging easier.
If you've got the right kind of garden cart, you can sometimes tip it
and manage to get the ball into it..again, no mean feat for a big
ball.

You can also use the ancient method of rolling the plywood by
inserting round logs or pieces of wood under it and moving them to
the front as you progress...works except on soft, wet, soil.  I've
moved huge rocks this way.  Not the fastest method on earth, but it
works.  If you really want to be tricky, you can predrill the plywood
to accept rope and make a rope handle to haul it with.  It will be
heavy and if you have lawn between the existing spot and the new one,
the dragging will not improve it much.

Remember to use leverage as much as possible instead of trying to
lift that ball up...you can shift quite substantial weights using
leverage...also saves the old back muscles.

So, anyway, you've got your rootball and tree over to the new
location.  Lever and shove it into place, position it so it is facing
the direction you want it to before removing the wrapping.  If you
used organic burlap for the balling, you can simply pull it back and
cut it off, leaving the part under the rootball in place as it will
rot.  If you used something synthetic, you'll need to get as much of
it off the rootball as humanly possible without disturbing the ball
enough so that it breaks up.

Important part here is to keep the soil around the roots in the ball
intact so that you do not break off any roots within the ball.  If
something shifts do not despair, just do the best you can to keep it
together as well as possible.  If your soil is light, it helps to
water thoroughly a day or so in advance....makes the ball heavier,
but keeps it together better.  If you have clay soil and find the
sides of the ball slick when you unwrap, take a handfork and scrape
the sides up a bit so new roots can penetrate out into the
surrounding soil.

Backfill up about half way and flood the soil in with a hose to
settle it firmly around the ball.  When that water has drained away,
backfill some more and repeat the flooding and keep this up until
you've filled the new hole to the level of the original soil around
the tree trunk.  Then, take more soil and build up a ring around the
rootball a few inches high - enough to retain water so it doesn't
simply roll off the rootball without penetrating the soil.  Mulch
with two or three inches of organic mulch, keeping it away from the
trunk and water well again.

Prune off any broken branches (and there will be a few) and it
probably wouldn't hurt to do a tad more light pruning to compensate
for the root loss.

It would be much the best to do this operation before your tree leafs
out so it has a little time to generate new feeder roots before the
damaged roots have to support leaves.

Then, go have several cold beers....you will all have earned them:-)
Or, hot cocoa, if your taste doesn't run to beer...

Water this sucker *religiously* every week throughout the coming
season and keep your fingers crossed.

Oh, and if your tree's branches extend out down to the ground, it's
best for the tree and your eyeballs and your temper if you take some
twine and tie it up like they do Christmas trees.....attach the twine
to the trunk near ground line and wind it upward, pressing the
branches up (gently) until you get as high as you can reach and tie
it off to the trunk.

Good luck!

Marge Talt, zone 7 Maryland
mtalt@clark.net
Editor:  Gardening in Shade
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