picea albies large specimen??

[ecolojim]

hi guys

 

My aunt died about a month and a half ago and since she loved christmas so much, my uncle has requested we plant a 'christmas tree' by our lake where we are going to put the ashes. this can be any time between now and christmas dependant on ideal planting time.

 

with it being a memorial tree, and ideally one of some great impact, on its merit of its suitability to be transplanted, I have so far selected the traditional christmas tree, Norway Spruce, picea albies.

 

My question to you guys, is where to get a particularly large specimen from. There are a couple of suitable plantations nearby from which I may be able to acquire one if theyre big enough. Transporting a large tree, up to 40+ft would be no problem but I cant see me finding anything above 15-18.

 

In preparation for transplanting, Is it correct that I would have to begin root pruning and wrapping the root ball some months before to increase viability?

 

Any input you can give me is much appreciated. This has to be done well,

 

fairly well drained sandy soil by the way.

[Mr Ed]

Jim,

Even an 18foot tree is going to have a huge rootball on it. A 40 footer would require an enourmous treespade, or at least a 20 tonne excavator to move.

 

My advice is to grow one from a heavy standard. I would also look at planting a Noble Fir, as the look a lot nicer than the norway spruce.

[ecolojim]

how much of a rootball do I need on a 15-18 footer?

 

I do like the heavy standard idea. It certainly makes sense. I agree, the Abies Procera is a beautiful tree. Cost does come into it as a consideration unfortunately. I notice it likes a heavier soil also which this is not, how much difference that would make, I am not sure.

 

 

Let's say for argument's sake I go with picea albies, which IMO is far from ugly anyway, and lets say on this plantation, I find a suitable specimen of 15-18ft height, What work do I need to do to prepare a rootball, and what time frame?

 

my mentioning of 40ft was merely designed to illustrate that I have at my disposal big enough gear to move a decent sized specimen a reasonably short distance. It's a farm I live on.

[D Mc]

It sounds like you have a strong idea of what you would like to do. However, since individual plantings of large trees can have a high mortality rate, in memorials a method to ensure longevity for generations would be to plant a grove of younger, smaller specimens.

 

This doesn't have to be a large grove, just more than a single tree. We have seen bereaved families devastated all over again when the memorial tree they had planted died.

 

Dave

[David Humphries]

It sounds like you have a strong idea of what you would like to do. However, since individual plantings of large trees can have a high mortality rate, in memorials a method to ensure longevity for generations would be to plant a grove of younger, smaller specimens.

 

This doesn't have to be a large grove, just more than a single tree. We have seen bereaved families devastated all over again when the memorial tree they had planted died.

 

Dave

 

Thats very good advice, Thanks Dave

 

 

 

 

 

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[kevwrenn]

The grove idea sounds best to me.... in my experience (Planted hundreds of thousands of trees of all sizes over the last 5 years!), the larger the tree, the higher the risk of failure. even on a 18 footer, you would need a rootball of 6 foot to give it a fair chance of survival. This would not be easy to prepare without the commercial equipment used by nurseries. If you take into account the time you would have to put into the preparation, it would probably work out more economical to buy one in from one of the bigger suppliers.

[ecolojim]

the grove idea sounds good... what i might have to do is take a photograph of where it's going to go, because there might not be space for multiple trees.

 

I picked the picea abies due to its supposed high success rate for transplanting, but if you guys think its still too risky???

 

Kev, yeah mate I see exactly where you're coming from with the time and effort thing, but tbh, Ive no problem at all spending whatever time this project requires as im sure you can appreciate. A 6foot root ball is no problem whatsoever. I may not have the nursery equipment but Im sure something can be done... I could always have a trial plant somewhere else??

In all honesty, my dad might not be happy at a load planted, and my uncle might only want the one, so I just want to do it right first time...

 

but...

 

If it didnt take very well... Id happily nip out and get a sneaky replacement in there quick sharp

 

Thankyou all so much for all your advice thus far. Please dont think that im snubbing any of it at all, I just might not be in a position to follow every bit of it.

 

This project means a lot to me, I just want to get it right first time

[Tom D]

I dont know what its like down your way but spruce aphid is bad round here, it doesn't kill the tree but makes them very ugly, I'd stick to firs if I were you. Plus you might find that planting a smaller specimen will give the same height in five years as a larger one would because it will adapt to the change so much better.

[renewablejohn]

I used to rent out christmas trees from one year to the next. Quite frankly they grow like weeds the secret is not the size of the rootball but the time of year it is transplanted.For Schools and Churches we would dig up using an excavator 15 to 20 foot trees which had been grown on ridges to encourage the tree to spread its roots lengthways along the ridge making sure not to damage the bark. Remove most of the soil to give a bare rootstock then immediately transplant into a large pot or back into the ground ensuring good drainage.Best time of year end of November so long as there is no frost in the ground