How hard is it to dig up an old tree and relocate it?

cardinal tetra

There's a tree I love in my old grannies house. She passed away and I would love to transport it 70 miles up the road. It's 19 foot tall. No idea how deep the roots are. Boundary wall is a foot from the tree but it's derelict house now left to fall down .

Sorry, I don't know the make or model of the tree!


Is it just a case of dig and pull? Bag the roots and get it back in the ground asap?

lottpaul

I'm sorry to hear of your grandmothers passing and it's nice to want to have something from the garden to remember her. Moving a tree of that size is a major job though and the chances of success could be low. You would need to dig out a very large rootball with the tree - probably requiring specialised machinery - and move it carefully, then replant and stake it carefully, water it profusely for at least a year etc -- and even then it might not survive.

Have you thought of taking cuttings from the tree -- or seeds? It would be the same tree and your chances of success would be much higher.

It would be a help to know what type of tree it is -- does it flower/fruit etc? what colour flowers/leaves/fruit does it have? If it's just 19ft tall how long ago was it planted? It may be a large shrub rather than a tree and that might affect things.
Having a plant as a memory of a loved one is a great idea, but I've always taken cuttings or seedlings -- and you get several plants rather than just one.

mostafaessa

Its good topic , thanks

cardinal tetra

Tree must be 50 years old at least. I could get seeds or cuttings but its the shape of the tree, the age of the tree and the sentementality that i love about it. Ive no idea what it is, i will take pics next week when im down.

They are bulldozing the whole place (esb own the land and she was the last of the houses on it)

The thing seeds like crazy i think.

Just a notion i had. Would be great to bring a bit of past back to the present.

Skatedude

There are irish companies that will do tree transplanting if you google the term, But i've no idea on pricing.

Falcon L

Just over 3 years ago I had have 4 apple trees moved, as they were in the way of my new build. They were very old trees and the apples produced by 2 of them were the nicest I have ever tasted! They were dug up by the builder and dumped in the corner of the site, where they sat for about 3 months. The root ball was flat and about the size of a children's paddling pool. There was nothing I could do at the time to give them TLC.

I planted them with more hope than expectation. Two died and two thrived. The amazing thing was that the two that survived were the bearers of the fruit that was so good. They both provided beautiful apples last year.

So, with no care whatsoever, the survival rate of my trees was 50%. I'd imagine the chances would be much, much higher with the right care.

Silver Breeze

Some ideas here https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=move+a+tree