Hi Dan, thank you very much for your input. I am renting this house and my landlord has become increasingly concerned that the tree is damaging the house. (Is it though?) I had his okay to plant it, but I never expected it to grow that big. I actually planted three acers, one died, one is 1,5m high and this one is just happy out and got huge...
I can ask my landlord about the depth of the foundation if it helps. The house has no basement level, so it's only ground floor. I am not sure if that is sufficient information for you?
I have a friend with a 3,5t digger and a tractor, I was hoping this would be sufficient machinery to move the tree? If a mini digger is required, I can hire one.
What else do I need to get?
I was hoping to have bought my own house by the time the tree has to be moved, but no such luck, the property prices have gone through the roof here and I haven't found anything suitable in the area. I do however have a little bit of land, where I was hoping to move the tree to. As I would assume that it really shouldn't be with livestock (the horses and sheep might eat it - and it might be toxic, plus they ruin it!?), I was going to put it into a small area of that field which is currently fenced off.
My next questions actually are:
Can it be planted on a slope? There are two springs and the flat area is unfortunately waterlogged, so not really an option for this tree..
Am I best planting it facing the same way as it is now, which is Southwest?
Do I need a soil sample to ensure the ground is suitable?
Should I put fence posts or sticks around it to support it?
Should I plant it against a wall again as it was used to that or would a large tree (instead of where the house is now) help?
I live on the Northwest coast of Ireland, we are not short of water - do I still need the flex pipe?
I guess wind shelter is not unimportant?
That's great news! I did read up on it and some of the websites actually say that a trench the same width as the crown should be dug 6-12 months before the tree is being moved. It says this will encourage additional root development which will aid the tree nourishing itself once planted in the new location? A bit late now anyway, but would this be common practice? Or what do you do? How do you prepare?
The digger is here at the moment (for other work), so if there is anything that can or should be done now, I can get this arranged. There is plenty of room to work, but obviously we can only dig a half circle around the tree due to the house being on the other side?
Thank you very much Doug, that is very helpful. I will read this thread.
That is good to hear, I was worried that I will have to say goodbye to this lovely tree.
Okay, so how deep do we need to go when digging out?
That's no problem, I can do that - a day before we move it?
That time last year it already had buds which started to open. Would that still be okay or too late?
We get a lot of rain here, so watering won't be an issue I guess? We barely get frost though (coastal area), so is that a good thing? I thought the slope might help to keep it drained, but would it be stable enough for this size of tree to move there?
Big time! I really hope it'll make it.
Thank you to every one of you for all your input and advice! You are super helpful, very kind, thank you!