Moving apple/plum trees

RegisteredMice

Guys,
I’ve a plum and apple tree in my back garden that are well established.
But, I am moving house and wondered what would be the best approach to bring these trees with me.
Do you think, I could (1) dig up and replant or (2) take a cutting
Any ideas?
Thanks in advance ...

Apologies, if this or a similar question has been asked previously (I couldn't find one)

gk5000

Most apple and plums were originally grafted so a regular cutting will not work - as they will never root. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grafting)

You could graft a cutting on to a new rootstock, but that is probably not worth the hassle unless it is a special or heritage tree.

RegisteredMice

Not as easy as I thought so ...
Thanks gk5000

braddun

how big are they

RegisteredMice

big enough to be honest - tree are both +20 years old!

qzy

I would leave them for the new owners and treat yourself to a couple of new trees wherever you move to.

Hesh's Umpire

On the same theme, I have some pear and trees 2, nearly three years in the ground that I'd like to move if it's viable. They're not more than 6 feet in height.

Is digging them up and moving them an option?

Supercell

You can take cuttings and send them to seedsavers who will graft them to new rootstock for you. You could also ask at a local garden center if they will do this for you.
But to be honest, unless they are an extremely rare variety why not pick up a new tree at the likes of futureforest s.net or seedsavers.ie who both have lots of delicious native varieties (amongst others) to choose from.
I have written to future forests in the past for advice on trees for my area and others in my family and have always got great advice back.

Supercell

Hesh's Umpire wrote: »

On the same theme, I have some pear and trees 2, nearly three years in the ground that I'd like to move if it's viable. They're not more than 6 feet in height.

Is digging them up and moving them an option?

Sure, dig them up when all the leaves are off, with the cold weather lately it's likely that they should be ok to move around now (I moved a victoria plum a couple of weeks ago).