Hi all. I’m aiming to prepare several advanced Fagus sylvatica and Malus floribunda for transplanting during our winter of 2024 (being july 2024) Opinions and further advice to my strategy are warmly welcomed and appreciated. I have access to machinery that are large enough to manage the project background The trees were planted 8-10 yrs ago and are located on a 45cm deep compacted clay shale sub soil. Top soil texture is a silty / clay loam Irrigation practices have been regular short applications. (Lousy, yes I know) Both of these conditions would have fostered a very shallow & quite wide root plate. strategy 1. Excavate a trench 1 metre out from the trunk to a depth of 50 - 60cm. Essentially pruning the root ball / plate to a 2 metre diameter. Approximate root dimensions 2 x 2 x .4cm = 1.6m3 (weighing approximately 1.8tonnes) 2. Neatly prune split and damaged roots. 3. Backfill trenched areas with straw to enable monitoring of the root regrowth 4. Anchor trees to stabilise 5. Reduce small branch & foliage density by 50% to compensate for root loss 6. Implement an effective watering regime, including applications of molasses to encourage root growth 7. Autumn 2024 (next April) Engage a suitably sized excavator to lift & shift. 8. Place trees & implement an appropriate establishment regime. Is there anything I’ve missed? Is the root ball a suitable size? Am i too optimistic to attempt this over one growing season? Shall I delay the shift for another year and gradually prune the roots back further for a denser root ball? thanks in advance
Wow, Looks like you got everything figured out. Also i reccomend posting this on the houzz gardening forum, because there are very qualified people on there that will answer your question much better
