I never had any problems with transplants and I had no experience. I don't know if your tree is skinny and young or thick with a strong root system. First of all, I think you should wait until the leaves fall off and then you can transplant. Prepare the new planting hole first. To remove the tree, I would start digging wide from outside the branches to loosen the root system without damage. The point is to be able to lift the tree by the main trunk without breaking alot of roots. Lift the tree, plant it in a new hole. Do not plant it low. Water well and you should be ok. Do not let the roots get exposed to the sun and dry out. Good Luck!!!

I was planning on waiting until fall after the leaves drop. I just wanted to research it now in preparation.

It is a robust tree with a thick trunk at the base -- maybe 6" to 8" or so in diameter. It has multiple branches close to the ground. I was going to try to air layer some of these to make it easier to get to the base of the trunk.

I guess I'll do the air layering now and start the root pruning in September. It is such a nice tree and looks so healthy. I just hate messing with things that are doing well.

Hi Beanhead,

I'm sorry, I didn't see this post the other day. I had a PP presentation for prepping trees to removed from the ground, however, my harddrive has crashed since then and the friend whose external I backed up to, is out of the country. I will try to find it again and send it to you.

Basically the process involves root pruning the tree to encourage more root growth from the base. I did this to one of my trees at the beginning of this year. I started on one side about 16 inches from the trunk. I waited a week and did the opposit side. A week later one of the perpendicular sides and then the opposit side of it.

The instructions were to drive a spade down to sever the roots about a month (if I remember correctly) before transplanting. I was planning on leaving my tree in for the entire season, so I removed the soil around the tree to not let the roots re-grow beyond the cut. After it finishes fruiting, I will start removing more soil until the root ball is about the size of the pot I'm going to put it into. Also, I will air layer/prune many of the limbs.

That would be great.

You must have offered that PP oresentation in another post. I found it once but then when I tried to find it again, I couldn't find it to save my soul.

The tree I am going to attempt to move is a bit larger and more heavily branched. But I think I can do it successfully. If you do manage to find that PP presentaion please let me know.

This tree is about 3 ft tall and not very old- I wish to move it-itis now early june- is this too late?