Size of root ball for certain sizes of pine trees

[lookingtoplant]

Hey,

I'm interested in harvesting some trees and planting new ones. If I had a tree spade (34” - 44” root ball - 3.5 to 4.5 tree caliper) and my trees were about 7, 8 feet tall and 4/5 inches in diameter, is this going to give me a big enough root ball? What size of root ball should I be looking at? Thanks.

 

[CaseyForrest]

7-8 foot evergreens you shouldnt go smaller than a 36" ball. Bigger is always better but not bigger than you can handle.

It also depends on what type of soil they are growing in...if its clay, you can go down to a 32".

 

[skwerl]

In Florida slash pines are almost impossible to transplant. They are very sensitive to root disturbances. I've never had any luck with pines unless they were container grown.

 

[lookingtoplant]

Max size of tree

What would be the biggest tree I could extract and would be able to transplant sucessfully with a 44" spade? Thanks.

 

[CaseyForrest]

Depends on the tree. Deciduous trees are measured by circumference and evergreens are measured by the foot in height.

With a 44" spade. I wouldnt go bigger than 3.5" on a deciduous and 8' on an evergreen. You will have to reduce those measurements if you wait to transplant after leaves or candles appear.

 

[Tree Planter]

size matters

rule of thumb 10 inch of ball to every inch of trunk cal. (5 to either side of the trunk) some are fussier than others and time of year matters alot.

in ontario a 6'-6'5" into a 28" basket 6'5" -7'5" is a 32" and you can sometimes over size the root ball a bit for the basket and shave a bit of the top with a hand shovel a 44" inche basket is very big vey hard to handle with out the man power or horse power.

if these trees are harvested and stored in house for sale water is what will make or break the success of it

 

[Tree Planter]

oh yes and i have successfully transplanted 10-12' white pine in 44" baskets not to contradict anyone but just personal experience

 

[Elmore]

Fyi

http://county.ces.uga.edu/cobb/Horticulture/Factsheets/Transplant/transplant.htm#Table

Down here in the USA general rule of thumb for deciduous trees is 12" of root ball per inch caliper...must be due to the humidity.

 

[treeseer]

Buy the ANSI Z60 standards for specs. yes it is about 10:1 and subject to other factors like soil species etc. The isa bmp's on planting are only $5. and full of good info.

I move redcedar and lob pine with smaller root dias, and only lose the ones I fail to maintain (water 2x/wk etc)

 

[Kneejerk Bombas]

Another consideration is whether or not the tree is nursery grown, where it is likely they are root pruned. Root pruning forces the tree to develop a more compact root system so when it's time to move the tree, balls have a higher percentage of the tree's roots.

 

[lookingtoplant]

http://county.ces.uga.edu/cobb/Horticulture/Factsheets/Transplant/transplant.htm#Table

This chart deals with the spread. To clarify, is the spread measured from the very base, from one end to the other of the pine vertically? what, if any, is the corelation between spread and height? What height would a tree with a 7 foot spread have? Thanks.

 

[Elmore]

more FYI

...in reference to American Standard for Nursery Stock (ANSI Z60.1)

http://hort.ufl.edu/woody/planting/americanstandard.htm

 

[wradman]

elevation changes

find out if it is a factor , it is here in b.c. , they grow better if the began there life with a similar elevation to where they are being planted.