japanese acer

[maggie01]

I have an acer which is a nice tree about 4ft high. Trouble is it is too close to other shrubs and I would like to move it. We have been in our property nearly 4yrs so I don't know how old it is. I moved a salix a few weeks ago and that seems to be ok. I'm not sure how well the acer takes to being moved. any suggestions please

[alan30]

At 4 foot tall it should be possible.  Main thing is to get as much root mass as possible and if can be retained with soil in a ball so much the better.  Will also depend on soil type; hopefully you (the tree) are in a soil that will bind into a ball, sandy or gravelly soil will be a problem. If you can dig a small trench and form a rootball you can wrap it in hessian and bind it with rope.  Best way is to undercut the rootball and tie a piece of rope tightly into the undercut.  Lie and tie another piece of rope at half the diameter of the rootball around the top, wrap hessian or similar round the root ball and then zig zag rope tightly from top to bottom rope diameters and tie off when fully round. Then carefully rock the rootball on the undercut until it 'peels' off and lift the rootball out.  Always rock or lift the rootball not the tree as this would tear fine roots.  You need to aim for as big a rootball as you and helpers can lift.  I have moved trees up to 6-7m in height using this method.  Hope you can understand this.  Make sure it goes into well prepared pit bigger than the rootball with the sides and bottom well broken up.  Water well and water well every 10 days or so to saturation.  Do not water a little bit each day; you need to saturate the surrounding soil to encaourage rooting out into rather than remain at the surface with little water.  Move from one place to another should be done straight away, do not lift and then wait a few days while you prepare new location as root mass will dry out.

[maggie01]

yes I understand all that. Seems like a lot of hard work but worth it. Is now the right time to do this.

[woofgang]

I would add to alan's masterly exposition that the best time would be when the tree is dormant but before the weather is really wintry, basically as soon as all the leaves are off.

[maggie01]

thanks. yes I had forgotton about that. The leaves are still on at the moment. Will wait a bit longer

[alan30]

I like to see plants moved/planted before January sets in provided soil is not frozen or waterlogged.