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Avocado Growers

Moving large Avocado Tree

6 years ago

Recently one of my clients had a clean out put in and the plumber advised them that they need to remove there Avocado tree. The reasoning is that it’s over the main sewer line and it will damage the pipe. The tree is around 4 years old. Do you think the tree roots would be able to do damage? Would it be possible to move this size tree? I assume it would be a 50/50 chance.

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Comments (5)

Robert Ramirez
5 years ago
Thats a nice tree. A shame that they need to dig it up. Just dig down from the drip line about 3-4ft down around the tree. Just be careful not to hit the sewer pipe. Have the hole prepared for its new home before you dig it out. Good luck! Let us know how it works out.
jbclem
5 years ago
last modified: 5 years ago
Looks like the drip line area is at least 4 feet in diameter. That's a lot of dirt is you go 3-4 feet down, and will be very heavy. I've tried transplanting citrus that were much smaller, and a 2 foot wide (and 2 foot deep) root ball is hard enough, even wrapped in burlap. 3 feet wide root ball took two people and ramps (to slide it out of the hole).

But. avocado roots are different from citrus. From https://www.gardenguides.com/131987-avocado-tree-roots.html:

" The root system is relatively shallow, and does not extend far beyond the tree canopy, if it even reaches the edge of the canopy. The roots are primarily thin, fibrous feeder roots.They have no thick, anchoring taproot.". Considering the type of root system, perhaps they wouldn't be a damaging to a sewer pipe as a normal tree would...but I have no experience with avocado tree roots. How deep is the main pipe?

My main sewage pipe is about 10 feet (under the canopy) from a large oak tree (30 feet +) and I did find some roots in the pipe once...but the pipe had a large and old crack and I wasn't surprised to find the root in there. It was no big deal to remove it and I just wrapped up the cast iron pipe line and didn't worry about it. There are other large oak roots crossing over and above the pipe (which is about 3 feet down) and I suppose if they were to get a good sniff of something they might send out some new root. But I dug it out again about 3 years after the first time and didn't see any new roots poking around the pipe near my funky repair.

Also, In general people recommend cutting back on the tree structure when you are transplanting and losing a lot of the root system.
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jbclem
5 years ago
I'm curious to know if you were able to transplant the avocado tree successfully...any luck with that?
Ilya Fourmanov
3 years ago
last modified: 3 years ago
How did the story end? Also considering moving an avocado
lisaannchong
2 years ago
Would love an update on the avocado tree transplantation! Thinking of doing the same

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