When & how should I transplant?

5 years ago

Have a volunteer eastern redbud tree growing in the yard for a couple of years. I’ve just left it in-place but now I want to move it to a final location. It’s about 7’ tall and the trunk is about 1” diameter.

better to transplant it now (Just finished flowering and it’s leafed out) or should I wait til this fall after the leaves fall off?

And also, what’s the best technique to dig and transplant a 3 year old tree like this? I don’t have equipment other than shovels...

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Comments (3)

User
5 years ago
Wait until fall after the leaves fall off. Or dormant period next spring.

A tree that size can be bare rooted but if you dig a root ball, it should be 12" in diameter for every 1" diameter of trunk.

If you dig a trench around the tree with a narrow shovel, you can then undercut the roots and lift the entire root ball out of the hole. Of coarse the bigger the tree, the heavier the ball is.

Here's one I dug from the woods a couple years ago. About 1" diameter near the ground.

I don't have a picture of how I dug that one but it's similar to one I moved in the yard a couple years ago. This was a bit larger tree but same idea. You can get under it with the shovel and cut the roots cleanly.

Below are good instructions on tree planting.

Planting a tree or shrub:
ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
4 years ago
transplant in dormancy ... no leaves.. no stress to leaves ... dont have to look at drooping leaves.. and worry about them ... ergo.. less stress to you ... as soon as the trees in the area start changing.. close enough ... all deciduous trees will be shutting down by then ...

plz add your location in the verbage .... it might matter on specific timing answers ...

i have hundreds of rogue seedlings.. im wondering about about your comment its 3 years old.. 7 feet tall.. and one inch caliper .... seems pretty fast to me ...

below is a pic of a cherry tree i moved ... prunus serotina ... just so you can conceptualize how brutal it can be... no different with a redbud ... note date in MI .. 4 to 6 weeks before leaf out time .... sharpen your shovel.. trim all mangled root ends.. plant in native soil at same depth ... water proper.. deeply.. and let near dry ... mulch properly ...

ken
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mattp321
Original Author
4 years ago
Thanks for the advice, I will wait til this fall to transplant and hopefully it will regrow roots over the winter and be ready for next year.

ken yes it’s doing much much better to it’s peers that are only 2-3 feet tall. Not sure why or if that is good or bad...

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When & how should I transplant?

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ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5

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When & how should I transplant?

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ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5

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