Transplanting Monkey Puzzles

[Gary Prentice]

I'm looking into transplanting a semi-mature monkey puzzle for a client. It's a really well furnished tree and in good health. Height wise, it's above the gutters of a two storey house and with a dbh of around 300mm. I'll have more information on that next week when we meet on the site.

 

I've moved one previously, about twenty years ago, and seem to recall that it had a unusual root system without any real significant lateral roots. 

 

Clients a developer, so digging it up, transporting and planting isn't too much of an issue because of the available plant. At present I'm thinking either to build shuttering or rootwrap the rootball somehow to keep it together. 

 

Looking at the treespades on line, I'm not sure that we could source one sufficiently large for the job, or the expense could be justified for one tree if we could. Any experience, comments, thoughts would be appreciated. I'm hoping to be project managing this but  I'd get involved just for the sake of the experience. If we can't get it moved, it's coming down as unsuitable in it's present location (10ft from the lounge window)

[Marc]

Tree spade will usually always be cheaper and less disruptive.

 

We move trees like this often I’d probably reccomend ripping it out with a 25ton digger with bucket mounted other way round and slapping it in its new home.

 

Moved a few around this size and always been quite brutal with them they seem pretty hardy with compact root balls.

 

Over head guying will be required.

[Gary Prentice]

30 minutes ago, Marc said:

 

Over head guying will be required.

Hadn't investigated under-ground guying for this yet, but was kind of guessing that it might be inadequate.

 

Due you use a proprietary set up or something home-made?

[Sequoia]

Hi Gary,  Unless you are using a root spade, then ground anchors won't work as the root ball will have been too disturbed through digging and won't be compact enough, hence Marc's suggestion of over-head guying.  It is also worth padding the stem to protect it against the digger arm.

[Marc]

Like Sequoia says you will struggle with underground guying.

 

protecting stem could be useful, although find flipping bucket helps keep arm away from stem.

 

obviously you can make this an intricate operation carefully airspading roots pruning, wrapping and eventually use a tree frame to support roots and lift, this takes time and preparation and often best with a crane.

 

But like you point out the root system is dense, and off the several we have moved often the reverse bucket wrench her out technique has been the most efficient and effective approach with great success as they really do seem fairly hardy.

 

 

Edited October 4, 2017 by Marc

[Stephen Blair]

[Gary Prentice]

Just to update this thread. I ended up contacting Civic trees and putting them in touch with the client. I can't remember the quote, it wasn't cheap but adding up everything we'd have to hire in and arrange it wasn't too bad.

 

The client seems to have moved on with Civic, but after sending videos of the available routes between the current location and the proposed one, Civic say that its probably logistically impossible.

 

Anyone ever had a quote on a Chinook helicopter? Just thinking outside of the box, like.

 

[arbogrunt]

On 10/4/2017 at 17:19, Gary Prentice said:

I'm looking into transplanting a semi-mature monkey puzzle for a client. It's a really well furnished tree and in good health. Height wise, it's above the gutters of a two storey house and with a dbh of around 300mm. I'll have more information on that next week when we meet on the site.

 

I've moved one previously, about twenty years ago, and seem to recall that it had a unusual root system without any real significant lateral roots. 

 

Clients a developer, so digging it up, transporting and planting isn't too much of an issue because of the available plant. At present I'm thinking either to build shuttering or rootwrap the rootball somehow to keep it together. 

 

Looking at the treespades on line, I'm not sure that we could source one sufficiently large for the job, or the expense could be justified for one tree if we could. Any experience, comments, thoughts would be appreciated. I'm hoping to be project managing this but  I'd get involved just for the sake of the experience. If we can't get it moved, it's coming down as unsuitable in it's present location (10ft from the lounge window)

good luck with that mate, Ive found just putting a new driveway in kills them stone dead. Anyone moved one before?

[Gary Prentice]

Lots of people say they have.

 

researching on line gives two totally opposing camps of yes and no, they don’t move well.

[Daniël Bos]

I think (from the odd one if seen blown over) that they have an exceptionally shallow root system.
So changing the driveway might well have destroyed a lot more of the root system than you'd expect.

So I'd guess when moving one, take a circle of soil as big as possible, rather than a deep scoop?