transplating saplings

[clueless]

Hello all

 

I am doing a fair bit of thinning at the moment trying to tidy a few areas up for turning over to meadows. I want to create some natural boundaries and also thicken up existing ones by transplanting some of the many saplings that I have in various places through natural regeration. The saplings are mainly birch but there are some oak and ash. they are all around 1" thick but some are larger.

 

What is the best way to transplant these and when is the best time? At the moment i am looking to use a mini digger with 9" bucket to dig some holes then use the same bucket to scoop the rootball of the saplings and carry them over and plonk them in the hole. will this work and will a 9" bucket be big enough?

 

Thanks for your help

[John Russell]

Hello all

 

I am doing a fair bit of thinning at the moment trying to tidy a few areas up for turning over to meadows. I want to create some natural boundaries and also thicken up existing ones by transplanting some of the many saplings that I have in various places through natural regeration. The saplings are mainly birch but there are some oak and ash. they are all around 1" thick but some are larger.

 

What is the best way to transplant these and when is the best time? At the moment i am looking to use a mini digger with 9" bucket to dig some holes then use the same bucket to scoop the rootball of the saplings and carry them over and plonk them in the hole. will this work and will a 9" bucket be big enough?

 

Thanks for your help

 

I've done it many times with a digger. Winter is the time to transplant -- any time before the first buds start to show signs of life, but around now is ideal provided the ground is not frozen.

 

A 9" trenching bucket is a bit on the small side for a tree 1" diameter. Really I'd use the biggest digging bucket you've got -- say 18" for a 1.5 tonne digger.

 

Best wishes,

 

John Russell

[Gareth Dalzell]

9" bucket is to small. Anyhow don't worry about getting the root ball, you'd be better digging up more root and letting it go bare root if necessary. A good wide bare root which is 12-18" across is betters than a 9" root ball.

[clueless]

ok so bucket size aside, ive got the science bit correct then?

 

smallest bucket i've got is 4 foot so i have to get a little machine in to do this. not a big fan of manual labour when its only a hobby so the shovel isnt coming out.

[renewablejohn]

Wrap a cloth sack around the trunk as it is so easy to peel the bark off with the digger arm.

[John Russell]

ok so bucket size aside, ive got the science bit correct then?

 

smallest bucket i've got is 4 foot so i have to get a little machine in to do this. not a big fan of manual labour when its only a hobby so the shovel isnt coming out.

 

4 foot bucket would be fine. Just scoop out a big root ball in one go and dig the same size hole to put it in. It'll hardly know it's been moved.

 

Best wishes,

 

John Russell

[clueless]

cheers john, the problem is the saplings are very close together, in some cases only 6" apart hence why i originally thought of the narrower bucket. maybe i'll try a few different sizes and see how it goes.

[chestnut]

depending what soil you have - you should be able to scoop up a big clump of them then pull them apart / split them up

 

draw out a trench with your digger and space the saplings out then refill trench

 

better get a move on though - as the weather is about to change - and it is likely to get very cold soon - so the ground will probably freeze - and you don't want to be digging anything in or out when it's frozen