waiting on those pictures............

in my z5.. which is basically your 6

move in october or ground thaw in april ...

when all the trees turn color in fall.. they are all dormant above ground ... and the oak can be moved .. yet grow roots until ground freeze ...

you never move a tree that is leafed out ... for the highest rate of success ...

ken

Without seeing the photo yet, I can't give advice on if your should move the tree.

Otherwise, do not move the tree unless it has gone dormant.

The rootball is likely not well established as of yet. Because of that, the tree would not have grown all that much no matter where it's planted. Even so, if you do end up knowing for certain that you want to move the tree to another place, than begin making plans to do that in a manner, which will not let the roots dry out before being replanted, and do it only after the tree has gone into full dormancy; either at the end of this year's growing season or just prior to next year's spring growing season. The latest in the Spring you should plant it is when it is just about to go into its early, bud swell status. Most important though, do not procrastinate and then choose to tranplant it any later 2010, when it should have already broken dormancy and releafed its canopy.

By mid to late summer 2009 you could use a shovel backwards to cut a ring to about a shovel's depth, around the size of rootball that you will want to take with your tree at the later suggested timing. In October you could recut that same desired rootball size again. doing such should ensure for making the actual tranplanting much easier for you and even for the tree.

If you so choose, you could even create the new planting bed this spring or summer, and you could also pre-dig the planting hole; that is, if you have a way to cover the back-fill soil, and thus keep it from eroding or compacting too much during rain periods.

Sorry...dark outside now...will try tomorow. Thanks for your patience.

My house is up on a slight hill so when you come up the road I'm not sure I like a huge oak obstructing the home. (curb appeal?)

I know about the staking...I just wanna move this thing. It is nice to hae an oak on each side of that shrub though.

And they are all in between some Spruces. pic coming later on that.

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Certainly movable at that size, wait until fall to do it. As to "should you move it", I think that is a personal thing. I happen to like big oak trees in front of houses (but then I live in the south and we like SHADE). I do think it is a bit close to the street given it's mature size.

The ecological, social and economic benefits obtained from leaving the tree there are considerable.

IMHO get an acorn and plant it where you want the tree.

You may be able to move the tree and not kill it, but there are numerous reasons to leave it there. By the time it gets big enough to start breaking the asphalt, we won't be using that much street anyway, so not a big deal.

Dan

I would move the oak if it is close to the powerlines or you don't like the cosmetics of its location. If your mainly concerned about it growing straight I would stake the tree for the next 2 years and it should be fine.

David

Thanks all. I live in a very woodsy area. Trees are evrywhere so I don't mind the powerlines. The electric company comes out to trim anything interfereing.

But my power lines are across the street about 20 feet away. Will a branch be 20 feet long and 6" or more thick? Probably not.

As far as the asphault, I haven't noticed Oaks around here ripping up the street. I'll have to take a pic of that. Some oaks right on the curb!

I'll move it in the fall simply because when it gets large it will obstruct the focal point of the house and garden bed coming up the hill. Hard to explain.

I don't know about moving it or not, but I think it would do a lot better if there was more mulch around the tree and the ring of mulch was much wider. It seems like the grass may be competing w/ the tree roots?

We have woods full of pin oaks and have transplanted a few in the field in May and June. These things are almost indestructible. They were growing in swampy woods and we transplanted them when they were about 3 feet high. They are now in a sunny spot and are doing great. The main thing is to get a good root ball, prepare the new planting spot but I don't think you'll have any problems, these are really hardy trees. They can grow very large so you definitely want to put them where there are not power lines or drainage lines.