Moving 10-15' pines

[jaginger]

I've got about 30 evergreens, about 10-15' tall, on my property. I think they are pines of some sort. I would like to move them about 150 feet from where they are now so they screen the road. Is this possible/recommended?

Is survival likely?

When should I do it?

How much might it cost for someone to move them?

Am I likely to get a survival guarantee, or will it be "at your own risk"?

Thanks for all the help.
jg

 

[treeseer]

Is survival likely? depends on what species, probably so if done right.

When should I do it? prune roots november move feb

How much might it cost for someone to move them? it depends. most yellow pages have "Tree Moving" as a category; call them.

Am I likely to get a survival guarantee, or will it be "at your own risk"? You cna get a guarantee but it would cost more

 

[Newfie]

Move in february? Not likely in Connecticut. The ground will still be frozen solid down a good 4 feet. Maybe more like late April up here?


White pine doesn't do well near the road if it is going to be subjected to a lot of salt spray from winter road treatment. Gets burned and the needles turn brown and die. Hemlocks and spruce seem to weather it a little better.

 

[treeseer]

Good points newfie; first, ID and plan. Second, be wary of advice from 4 zones away, or from the internet in general...

 

[Kneejerk Bombas]

Beware of advice given in person too.
Most tree movers also won't move evergreens during candle elongation. In Wisconsin, that's about the middle of May to middle of June. They will typically dig what they think they are going to move, in advance of that.
Then it's also not the best to move them during the heat of July and August.

 

[rbr28]

Get second and third opinions!

I talked to a professional government arborist about transplanting a tree on my lot and he said go ahead and do it, it wouldn't be that big a deal to dig it up and transplant it. The tree was a red pine about 8 feet tall that was in a really bad location, next to a propane tank and under power lines. It was either try to move it, or cut it down in another year so I probably would have tried to move it regardless. Anyway, he didn't tell me that red pines have a taproot. After carefully digging and cutting for hours, I finally got to the taproot, which was several feet long (by best guess). I finally gave up hand digging a few feet down and just cut it and transplanted it. I doubt the tree will survive, but after two months it's hanging on. If I had known about the deep roots, I would have at least tried to get someone to move it professionally.

 

[Ax-man]

I think it would be good for you to have a qualified arborist come out and evaluate the trees health to see if they could survive a move. A tree that is under stressful conditions on the existing site surely are not going to transplant and survive after having 80 to 90% of it's root system chopped off by a tree spade.

Just a thought

Larry