I have a rather large, unknown red "waterfall" maple that is out growing it's location at my front door and I am wondering if I can move it and still keep it alive? It is about 3-4ft tall and maybe 4-5ft wide and it's roots seem to be everywhere! When would be the best time to move, can I do it now while the weather is still nice but we are getting a fair bit of rain?
You surely can move it safely so long as it is not growing really close to a house or sidewalk or between sidewalks. Sometimes when trees are planted too close to foundations and sidewalks the roots will grow out real long searching for water which means the rootball with all the fine roots near the base of the tree won't exist. Instead they will be big anchoring and stabilizing roots to which fine ones will be growing from. This is mostly the case with very old japanese maples. Make sure to wait till the tree goes dormant to move it. Try to move it either before winter really sets in and temps get below freezing or wait till just before spring the moment the ground is not frozen before buds start to swell. I moved eight large trees last year and they are all doing well. I used a very long demo blade on a sawzall to cut through the roots to make a root ball as large as you can while still being able to move it. Make your first ring with the sawzall at the desired rootball diameter then make the second ring just wide enough for a trenching shovel to dig down between the two rings. I like using trenching shovels because they have a narrow long blade. If the tree is too heavy to lift consider digging a ramp for the tree to be drug out of the hole. Always make sure to keep the exposed root ball dripping moist with a hose and try to go back with a pair of sharp pruners and cleanly cut all roots that were cut rough by the saw and the shovel. Make sure to have your new site prepped and dug before hand for immediate placement. Then plant the tree on a slight mound. It will need the perfect amount of water for a few years to establish well.
