Moving shrubs/trees

weenemo

We are planning to have a patio area and some raised beds put in our garden as well as possibly pushing back the strangely very large, deep border, it's currently about 6 meters deep and i reckon I could keep a cow in there and lose it for a week in the shrubs. We will take the opportunity to put some drainage in whilst at it (actually the primary reason for getting the work done but less exciting) and perhaps add top soil to a couple of areas as there is something super hard and dense under the garden, possibly an old road, possibly just clay ground that top soil has been shoved on top of so some of the shrubs are struggling with lack of depth to roots.

Anyway, where we want to put the patio is unfortunately the only part of the garden that has the plants I really want to keep - the fruit trees/plants. I have blackcurrant, redcurrant, raspberries, patio pear trees and a young, full size cooking apple tree. I think we can manage to work around the apple tree as it's off to one end

My question is, someone is coming to look at it in the next week or so then we will see when they are free to do the work but I'm worried about the impact of moving my pear trees particularly. I don't mind about the soft fruits so much as I can get more and plant them where I want, though ideally want to limit that because of cost, but I'm fond of the pear trees. Is there a best time to move and how should I go about it?

Also have a massive lilac that needs shifted but terrified we'll lose it.
Any hints and tips for moving small fruit trees and large shrubs much appreciated.

pattypan4

when are you planning to do the work? I have moved several apple trees but only ever in the dormant season, I would not recommend it during the growing season, they are likely to die. It is very hard work and very heavy as you need as big a root ball as possible. I currently have several 6 year old M26 apple trees and am biting the bullet and buying new trees for my new house. These trees will be nigh impossible to shift.

[Deleted User]

Moving established plants can be done but to ensure they live through the following 12 months you'll need to take a very large rootball aswell as watering them copiously for that 12 months.

If one or both of those haven't happened they'll wither and die within a short space of time.


The rootball will need to encompass most of the root width and depth or you'll be chopping into the finer roots which are the important ones.


The receiving hole will need to be twice the size of the rootball to allow for plenty of organic material to get these off to the best start.


The watering of them is going to be at least a bucketful each day - but if you're a productive gardener you'll already be aware of the watering rule.


Lastly, this is going to be most successfully done later in the year when these plants aren't actively growing or you'll stunt their growth significantly and possibly lose them completely.

Davesnave

weenemo wrote: »

Any hints and tips for moving small fruit trees and large shrubs much appreciated.

Yes, a 1.5 tonne digger, or larger, and even then there are no guarantees with tree-sized plants.

Usually, in order to make an omlette, one has to crack eggs.....

sheramber

https://www.rhs.org.uk/advice/profile?pid=293

There also videos on you tube

weenemo

Davesnave wrote: »

Usually, in order to make an omlette, one has to crack eggs.....

Thank you everyone. As i fear, there will likely be casualties but all I can do is try and the end goal will be worth it. All I can do is do my best to preserve as much as possible - and water, lots. The plants were all put in by previous owners of the house so I've really nothing to lose, other than I rather like many of the plants that are - they are just in the way of space we wish to utilise better.
The hip height pear trees I'm hoping will be ok, I can only try, as they are fairly small and nothing really close around them so can really afford to take a massive skelp of ground with them. The apple tree will stay put, although needs staked and I wonder how well it will do as it gets older anyway as the root depth is only a couple of feet due the hard ground underneath.
The large lilac, is likely to become a casualty but it's on top of some rather lovely hydrangeas that I'd like to give a chance and i's just so far forward in the space it is in that it's a waste - so may bite the bullet and go with it, take huge root balls and be out every night watering.

It's taken a couple of months for the workman to find time to come and see us and we've other plans for August/September so could well be dormant season which will work - I'l try push it back as much as possible

Davesnave

Lilac is notable for having searching, aggressive roots. I once had to get rid of one before it got rid of the wall it was close to. Smaller modern lilacs might well be more benign, however.

We shifted quite a lot of plants with the digger in the dormant season , including a well established apple and a Kentish cob. Neither seemed to notice.