British Columbia: Transplanting Spruce & Hemlock on the Queen Charlotte Islands

Hi. I'm looking for some advice on when is the best time to transplant small spruce and hemlock trees on the Queen Charlotte Islands. I would think that the best time would be after any chance of cold winter weather is over (probably late February or early March). Can anyone provide any insight?
Cheers.

 

My guess is that the hemlock will have a better root system to deal with than the spruce. But give it a try.

My preference would be an autumn or winter move. One advantage of autumn is that its a good root growth season. But winter has another advantage: after you plant and backfill, the rains help settle soil around the roots better, and while the weather is not warm.

My first pick is autumn, winter second, spring third, and summer last.

I have transplanted in summer, without loss, but only as a last resort, like when a free tree was going to be discarded if not moved within a day or two. A white birch was one of those, three summers ago in southern Oregon. A second was a 20' weeping giant sequoia moved bare root, and did fine. But those were moves of neccessity.