Transplanting Beech Whips/Seedlings/Young Trees

[Wendelspanswick]

There are a lot of young beech trees that have seeded from the ancient beech trees that form the boundary of my woodland, they range from about 300mm to 1500mm high and I'd like to transplant them to more suitable areas.  

What are the survival rates like for transplanted trees and what can I do to increase the chances of them surviving?

Cheers.

John

[richardwale]

I would have thought right now was the perfect time to lift whips, heel them in somewhere sheltered and plant in the spring.

[Daniël Bos]

18 minutes ago, richardwale said:

I would have thought right now was the perfect time to lift whips, heel them in somewhere sheltered and plant in the spring.

I agree with the now part. (though november would have been ideal)

But why disturb them twice, just move them straight away?

 

As for survival rates, it depends mainly on the wee one's ability to get enough moisture. So dig them out as big as is easily manageable, and water in spring/summer if needed for best results.

There will also be some variation in what soil they're coming from/going to, but there's not a whole heap you can do about that.

I've transplanted self set oaklets (12"-20") with near 100% success, and some hawthorn of similar size with only 30% survival

[ABtrees]

On ‎15‎/‎01‎/‎2018 at 18:29, Daniël Bos said:

I agree with the now part. (though november would have been ideal)

But why disturb them twice, just move them straight away?

 

As for survival rates, it depends mainly on the wee one's ability to get enough moisture. So dig them out as big as is easily manageable, and water in spring/summer if needed for best results.

There will also be some variation in what soil they're coming from/going to, but there's not a whole heap you can do about that.

I've transplanted self set oaklets (12"-20") with near 100% success, and some hawthorn of similar size with only 30% survival

Glad I found this topic as I was just about to start something similar !  I've got an area (now known as the nursery) which is full of (and I'm talking circa 300) self set trees (pics below).  Clearly there are way too many for them all to survive so I thought I'd move them around a bit.  Tallest is probably 2.5m (smallest 15 cms). A friend of mine has a small JCB which I can borrow for the day, so question is where do I start and how to set about it ?  BTW water - not a problem !