When is the best time to transplant Oak?

[STANG302]

I have red and white oak randomly growing around my property. And in places I don't want them to grow. The ones I'd like to transplant are all between two to four feet tall.

Is it alright to transplant them now? It cooling down now and getting into the low 30's at night along with a few good frosts already. Have I waited to long?

 

[blueatlascedar]

Im my opinion this is a very good time to transplant. The biggest mistake people tend to make is not digging a large enough root ball and being careful of cutting a tap root. When I transplant trees; I often lightly crown prune to compensate the root pruning that is done moving the tree. Also try to be mindful of depth when moving the tree to it's new hole. The flare of the trunk should remain above ground. Most ppl tend to plant to deep.

 

[defensiblespace]

This is a great time of year to transplant trees. Transplanting, however, has a very low success rate if you do not follow some basic guidelines. The trees will transplant better if they have already dropped their leaves. The root ball should be 10 times the diameter of the trunk and at least 30 to 36 inches deep for larger trees. When digging up the tree, be sure to make clean cuts with existing roots. The new hole should be dug at least twice as wide as the root ball, but not an inch deeper. A trees absorbing roots are in the upper 6 to 12 inches of the soil, so you don't want the new hole to be deeper and back filled. This will reduce the amount of water and mineral uptake by the absorbing roots. Also, be sure to transplant your tree in an area with similar exposure to where the tree originally grew. Fill the new hole with the same soil that came out of it. Give the tree a good amount of water in the first spring and summer to compensate for any root loss. If you fertilize the tree, make sure you use a slow release fertilizer. Fertilize the top of the soil, not the bottom of the hole as this is below the absorbing roots. Good luck

 

[newsawtooth]

This is a great time of year to transplant trees. Transplanting, however, has a very low success rate if you do not follow some basic guidelines. The trees will transplant better if they have already dropped their leaves. The root ball should be 10 times the diameter of the trunk and at least 30 to 36 inches deep for larger trees. When digging up the tree, be sure to make clean cuts with existing roots. The new hole should be dug at least twice as wide as the root ball, but not an inch deeper. A trees absorbing roots are in the upper 6 to 12 inches of the soil, so you don't want the new hole to be deeper and back filled. This will reduce the amount of water and mineral uptake by the absorbing roots. Also, be sure to transplant your tree in an area with similar exposure to where the tree originally grew. Fill the new hole with the same soil that came out of it. Give the tree a good amount of water in the first spring and summer to compensate for any root loss. If you fertilize the tree, make sure you use a slow release fertilizer. Fertilize the top of the soil, not the bottom of the hole as this is below the absorbing roots. Good luck

Sounds like your studying is coming along nicely, that is sound advice.

 

[defensiblespace]

Sounds like your studying is coming along nicely, that is sound advice.

Thanks newsawtooth. It's all I've been doing for the last month. The test is a week from tomorrow. I'm looking forward to it. Now back to the books.

 

[JeffL]

Im my opinion this is a very good time to transplant. The biggest mistake people tend to make is not digging a large enough root ball and being careful of cutting a tap root. When I transplant trees; I often lightly crown prune to compensate the root pruning that is done moving the tree. Also try to be mindful of depth when moving the tree to it's new hole. The flare of the trunk should remain above ground. Most ppl tend to plant to deep.

The last thing you want to do is prune the crown, you want as much foliage as possible in the coming years to help produce sugars and drive more root growth. Tree making no energy = tree making no roots.

 

[STANG302]

Thanks, these trees are an inche or under in diamiter and are at most four feet tall. There growth has suprised me. They went from nothing or getting mowed over to this in two years.

Now, do they need any water this fall or are they fine till spring?

 

[palmrose2]

I'm no pro, but... I've had pretty good luck transplanting native trees over the last 35 yrs. I've never crowned one. I always get the deepest and biggest chunk of soil/root ball I can handle. Late fall to early spring is the best time to transplant. Smaller trees are easier to keep alive and thrive. I assume it is because I can handle a much bigger root ball relative to the trunk.

The only place I deviate from the pros is the placement of the root ball relative to ground surface. I like to place the root ball/soil I just dug up about two to three inches below ground. Consequently my hole is a little larger and deeper than what is going to fill it. Ideally the receiving hole is full of water as the transplant goes in and I wash native soil into the space around the roots and the ground. The top of the root ball does not get filled in. Basically the tree just sits in a little depression. I was taught this by an old green house owner when I was a teenager. The depression is handy for watering with a bucket. Just dump 2-5 gallons of water a week in the hole (depending on it's size) at first sign of spring, tapering off as the tree gets more acclimated. The depression over the years eventually gets filled in naturally by the regular stuff that flies through the air and the trunk itself.

I have about 50 trees around my 2.5 acres between 1 and 15 years old and anything that still has a depression gets some water in the dry part of the summer. Enough soaker hose to reach them all is beyond what I'm willing to buy or deal with.

I've often wondered what would happen if I put a little mulch around them to bring the surface up around the tree and make it a little prettier to the eye, but I really don't want to mess with success.

Well that's my two cents.

 

[treeclimber101]

Now is a great time to transplant , but digging and potting something long term is not recomended because the temps will damage the roots , so be quick out and in ..

 

[treeclimber101]

Im my opinion this is a very good time to transplant. The biggest mistake people tend to make is not digging a large enough root ball and being careful of cutting a tap root. When I transplant trees; I often lightly crown prune to compensate the root pruning that is done moving the tree. Also try to be mindful of depth when moving the tree to it's new hole. The flare of the trunk should remain above ground. Most ppl tend to plant to deep.

How can you transplant without cutting all the roots ? At this time of yr. after leaf the tree has already stored what it needs in the roots so crown pruning may not be necessary..

 

[Dalmatian90]

If they've grown that fast in a couple years...

Wouldn't you be better off instead of digging big holes and four foot high trees that you collect up and plant a bunch of acorns and thin the saplings later? Seems like less work and no chance of stressing out the saplings by transplanting.

 

[treeseer]

If they've grown that fast in a couple years...

Wouldn't you be better off instead of digging big holes and four foot high trees that you collect up and plant a bunch of acorns and thin the saplings later? Seems like less work and no chance of stressing out the saplings by transplanting.

Good idea, but a lot longer to get a tree. these have been mowed over so likely have a lot of roots, hence the fast growth reported.

agree with above; live branch pruning sometimes called for to balance but not routinely. i use a welded shovel like a prowbar under the tap root to pop it out--crack that carrot and you may be wasting your time after that...