The Tree has moved!
The tree is now in its new home! I hope it is happy and that I did not break too many roots in the process.
I dug around the hole about 2 feet from the truck, putting a trench around the tree, careful to get closer than 2 feet.
Once I had the trench and saw no signs of roots, I pointed the shovel underneath all around. Eventualy I realized that the soil would not stay with the roots, that I just needed to free the roots. I alternated between my shovel and the large steel rod. Eventually I was able to rock the tree and soon after was able to pull it out.
I think it is important to note what is under the ground for a six foot evergreen.
About 4-6 inches below the soil line is a large thick root, maybe 2.5 as large as the diameter of the trunk. This has been called a root ball, which originally suggested to me a cluster of smaller roots and dirt. No, this is a massive root base. I think of it as the tree's anchor. Below that is the tap root. Soil line to end of tap root is about 36 inches or half the distance from the soil line to the apex of the tree. Then, there are 1 centimeter roots at 45 degree angles from the trunk at soil line and below and at least one 4 cm root branches from the anchor.
I did a good job with digging my hole that has been waiting for more than a year to be filled. It was 36 inches deep.
Transplanting a tree should have been a two person job: one person to hold the three, the other to shovel in dirt around the tree.
However, I was just by myself, so I laid the tree on the ground for a moment and filled the hole so it was only 21 inches deep.
Then I made room for the tap root using my large steel rod. This allowed the root to go down the full distance but the anchor and other roots to sit on top. This helped steady the tree even as I held it with my left hand. My right hand extended the shovel to the dirt mound I excavated when removing the tree. I would get the blade mostly full then pivot to the tree hole and rotate the handle, then tap the blade on the soil to help compact it.
I did this maybe five times and let go of the tree. It stood up by itself! Shaky but not for long. The soil line was a bit low so I pulled up the tree. Still remaining upright I used both hands to get dirt into the hole. I also compacted the dirt and to do this bent the tree a little to push down the soil. Before the soil was too compacted I made sure the tree was upright, then added more soil.
Doing all of this was exhausting, partly because I was concerned I would harm the root structure. I probably did, but hope the tree can cope. It looks good where I put it, but we will see if the tree thinks of it as good.
I'll monitor the tree's condition every day, check the soil compaction and whether the tree is leaning. If it buds and creates new branches and needles then I know things will be ok.
The remaining soil was shoveled into into the tree's old hole and added in soil I had excavated from the tree's new home. This had been sitting in the wheelbarrow for the past year! I will need the wheelbarrow to move bricks and concrete pieces to the LBT.
The rest of my vacation I will take steps to fix up that area but also to weed the backyard: whatever seems the right thing to do. I would also like to do one more donation run.
The daffodil is finally blooming! The droopy white flowers and the violets are still there. In the sideyard I moved three clusters of plants from the storage area to near the other flowers. More flickweed was pulled and I yanked and dug out some blackberry vines in the side yard.
I dug around the hole about 2 feet from the truck, putting a trench around the tree, careful to get closer than 2 feet.
Once I had the trench and saw no signs of roots, I pointed the shovel underneath all around. Eventualy I realized that the soil would not stay with the roots, that I just needed to free the roots. I alternated between my shovel and the large steel rod. Eventually I was able to rock the tree and soon after was able to pull it out.
I think it is important to note what is under the ground for a six foot evergreen.
About 4-6 inches below the soil line is a large thick root, maybe 2.5 as large as the diameter of the trunk. This has been called a root ball, which originally suggested to me a cluster of smaller roots and dirt. No, this is a massive root base. I think of it as the tree's anchor. Below that is the tap root. Soil line to end of tap root is about 36 inches or half the distance from the soil line to the apex of the tree. Then, there are 1 centimeter roots at 45 degree angles from the trunk at soil line and below and at least one 4 cm root branches from the anchor.
I did a good job with digging my hole that has been waiting for more than a year to be filled. It was 36 inches deep.
Transplanting a tree should have been a two person job: one person to hold the three, the other to shovel in dirt around the tree.
However, I was just by myself, so I laid the tree on the ground for a moment and filled the hole so it was only 21 inches deep.
Then I made room for the tap root using my large steel rod. This allowed the root to go down the full distance but the anchor and other roots to sit on top. This helped steady the tree even as I held it with my left hand. My right hand extended the shovel to the dirt mound I excavated when removing the tree. I would get the blade mostly full then pivot to the tree hole and rotate the handle, then tap the blade on the soil to help compact it.
I did this maybe five times and let go of the tree. It stood up by itself! Shaky but not for long. The soil line was a bit low so I pulled up the tree. Still remaining upright I used both hands to get dirt into the hole. I also compacted the dirt and to do this bent the tree a little to push down the soil. Before the soil was too compacted I made sure the tree was upright, then added more soil.
Doing all of this was exhausting, partly because I was concerned I would harm the root structure. I probably did, but hope the tree can cope. It looks good where I put it, but we will see if the tree thinks of it as good.
I'll monitor the tree's condition every day, check the soil compaction and whether the tree is leaning. If it buds and creates new branches and needles then I know things will be ok.
The remaining soil was shoveled into into the tree's old hole and added in soil I had excavated from the tree's new home. This had been sitting in the wheelbarrow for the past year! I will need the wheelbarrow to move bricks and concrete pieces to the LBT.
The rest of my vacation I will take steps to fix up that area but also to weed the backyard: whatever seems the right thing to do. I would also like to do one more donation run.
The daffodil is finally blooming! The droopy white flowers and the violets are still there. In the sideyard I moved three clusters of plants from the storage area to near the other flowers. More flickweed was pulled and I yanked and dug out some blackberry vines in the side yard.