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aaustin_gw

tips for transplanting italian cypress?

aaustin
15 years ago

I am planning to transplant 2 Italian Cypress trees from a neighbor's yard to mine. They are about 10 feet tall but have been planted in the shade and the bottom 1/3 of each is brown. She needs to move them now and it's cold here (which is rare). Any tips for the best chances of successfully transplanting them? How often should I water once they're in? Etc. Etc. Any help you can offer will be much appreciated. Thanks!

Comments (17)

  • barbaraincalif
    15 years ago

    A quick search came up with a past post to answer your question.
    An oversight of many of us newbies is to look before you ask...me included!

    Good luck,
    Barbara

    Here is a link that might be useful: Transplanting Mature Conifers

  • tunilla
    15 years ago

    Thanks for that interesting thread,Barbara.You're very good at diggin'...But I read in A.Bloom's book that Cypresses in general grow tap roots from an early age on.
    That may put the poster's project in jeopardy.I imagine a 10' Italian cypress could well have a 3 or 4' taproot. If that were cut,chances of survival might be rather slim.
    Anybody got a pair of X-ray specs from the days when we were were teen-agers? T.

  • ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
    15 years ago

    free or not.. i would not bother with a plant that is soooo stressed.. that it is bare for 1/3 of the plant ...

    if it is disease.. it will not have the power to recover from the shock of the transplant ...

    also.. if in too much shade.. odds are high.. that once you throw it in full sun.. you will burn all the shade tolerant foliage ...

    truncated roots.. plus loss of foliage is not good circ's ....

    if you need some severe physical exercise ... go for it ..

    or if you are a betting man .. what the heck ...

    otherwise.. think long and hard if it will all be worth MAYBE a 25% success ratio ..

    for what.. a plant you can buy small for a couple bucks ... which grows like a weed in the right zone ...????

    good luck

    whatever you decide...

    ken

  • sequoia_stiffy
    15 years ago

    Get a product called "super thrive". Once heard about an old nurseryman from SF who transplanted two huge trees, everybody told him it was useless and they would die, but he doused them with buckets of that stuff and they made it fine.

    Read up on it.

    Here is a link that might be useful: superthrive

  • barbaraincalif
    15 years ago

    Did you know Superthrive contains the rooting hormone 1-Naphthaleneacetic acid? That may be why it actually works!

  • ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
    15 years ago

    an old nurseryman has EXPERIENCE ...

    IMHO .. all amendments are snake oil ...

    spend the money on smaller, fresher.. tranplantable stock

    ken

  • sequoia_stiffy
    15 years ago

    Yeah, don't know, never tried moving a large rootball before. Just heard a lot about it from nurserymen and friends who work in landscaping. The rooting hormone most certainly helps it out, but I'd imagine all the b-vitamins have something to do with it, too. You open the stuff up, it smells like iron. Ken, I wouldn't call amendments snake oil, though. Seems kind of like a silly statement. Some soils are better than others and don't need it. Some are lousier than others and trees planted there could benefit from many amendments.

  • ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
    15 years ago

    think of it this way ...

    10 feet tall ... 3 to 4 feet across .... 2 to 3 feet deep ...

    depending on soil type.. 2 to 300 HUNDRED POUNDS root ball ... if properly dug and wrapped.. hoiked across the street .... down the road.. over the woods to grandmothers house we go ...

    all with a 25% survival rate based on the death of the bottom third of the tree ...

    if i were a young stud.. i would enjoy the challenge and the exercise.. and be damned to those who say it cant be done ..

    now that i am older and more sage ... the heck with that.. i will buy fresh young stock and dig a two foot round hole.. and stick the potted stock into it..

    ken

  • Embothrium
    15 years ago

    >he doused them with buckets of that stuff and they made it fineNo controls (untreated plants to compare with) = no proof.

    How does anyone know what would have happened without the fertilizer? Maybe the results of the operation would have been the same.

    This is how amending of planting hole backfill with bark, peat, perlite etc. was found to not be of benefit: organized experiments repeated in different times and places, with different plants including control groups producing the same result: better growth without amendments.
    ____________

    "Â Vitamin B-1, aka thiamine, does not reduce transplant shock or stimulate new root growth on
    plants outside the laboratory
    Â A nitrogen fertilizer is adequate for transplanting landscape plants; avoid use of "transplant
    fertilizers" that contain phosphate
    Â Healthy plants will synthesize their own thiamine supply
    Â Healthy soils contain beneficial microbes that synthesize thiamine as well
    Â Difficult-to-transplant species may be aided by application of auxin-containing products in
    addition to nitrogen, but read the label and donÂt add unnecessary and potentially harmful
    chemicals (this includes organics!)
    Â Adequate soil moisture is crucial for new root growth; be sure to irrigate new transplants
    frequently and use mulch to reduce evaporation"

    Here is a link that might be useful: Vitamin B1.pdf

  • barbaraincalif
    15 years ago

    Bboy...

    A nitrogen fertilizer is adequate for transplanting landscape plants.

    What is the recommended rate of application and what formulation of fertilizer is best?

  • sequoia_stiffy
    15 years ago

    I generally don't like to move trees bigger than three feet tall. Too risky and uncomfortable for the patient in question. Just re-iterating what I was told by someone with forty + years experience who's opinion might hold some ground to it.

    "maybe the results of the operation would have been the same"... or maybe not. Is it really worth arguing about? A ten dollar bottle will last a person a year. Think it's nonsense, than don't buy it. If you're worried about transplanting something that's too big to transplant, than give it a shot. In my opinion, forty years of experience counts. El Fin.

  • Embothrium
    15 years ago

    "Research findings and new technology are slow to be incorporated into nursery and landscape practices. Tradition is important and has a distinct place in our society, however, blind allegiance to tradition stymies progress"

    - Carl E. Whitcomb, ESTABLISHMENT AND MAINTENANCE OF LANDSCAPE PLANTS (1987, Lacebark Inc., Stillwater)

  • sequoia_stiffy
    15 years ago

    "BLAH BLAH BLAH BLAH, BAH BLAH BAH BAH." - the wisest words ever uttered, by some hotshot with a degree and perhaps a beard.

  • Embothrium
    15 years ago

    "Papers published in refereed Scientific Journals: 70+
    Technical articles in assorted Journals and Technical publications: 330+
    Technical papers presented at Professional Meetings: 400+
    Patents granted: 20 USA, numerous foreign patents.
    Professional organizations: American Society for Horticultural Sciences, Â
    International Plant Propagators Society (President Southern Region, 1989), Â
    International Society of Arboriculture, Â American Society of Agronomy, Â Weed
    Science Society of America, Â Ecological Society of America, Â Southern
    NurserymenÂs Association, ÂOklahoma Nursery and Landscape Association, Â
    American Nursery and Landscape Association, Â Texas Nursery and Landscape
    Association.
    Awards: 1977, Henegar Aware given by the Southern NurserymenÂs Assoc.
    for excellence in research. 1983, Chadwick Award, presented by the American
    Association of Nurserymen, "To an exceptional educator for superior teaching,
    guidance and motivation of students in the nursery and landscape arts and
    sciences". 1985, Outstanding Oklahoma Nurseryman. 1986, Wight Memorial
    Award given by the Southern NurserymenÂs Assoc. for Outstanding Contributions
    to the Nursery Industry. 1987, Outstanding Industry Person Award, by the Florida
    Nursery Assoc. 1988, Award of Merit from the Garden Writers Assoc. of
    America. 1993, named Fellow of the International Plant Propagators society.
    1999, Meadows Award given by the International Plant Propagators Society"

    Here is a link that might be useful: bio.pdf

  • tunilla
    15 years ago

    Hey Stiffey, More likely,someone with more knowledge & experience than all of us put together... T.

  • barbaraincalif
    15 years ago

    Hey...didn't bboy supply that quote to acknowledge he has changed his mind about the benefit of applying fertilizer when transplanting!?!?

  • sequoia_stiffy
    15 years ago

    No, I think he was trying to say that I was blindly allegiant to tradition and stymieing progress.

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