The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Growing => Fruit => Topic started by: Tricky Trev on November 21, 2012, 08:15:43 pm
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i need to re site some Apple trees is it OK to dig them up now
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Yes - It's a good time of year to move trees, although it's best to avoid frost. I've found it's not easy moving mature trees - they generally don't transplant well. I've moved a mature crab apple tree on my smallholding but it took a long time to re-establish.
Wendy@blueborage
blueborage.blogspot.com
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How old are they? As Wendy says, now is the perfect time to give it a go - we've just been planting lots of new apple (and other fruit trees) because they're dormant but it's early in their dormancy so they have a time to settle before the onset of spring. But if they're more than a few years old, you might just be better cutting them down and buying new ones for your new site.
H
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if you plant a tree with the intention of lifting it, knock the bottom out of an old large plastic pot, and plant the sapling in the pot in the hole in the ground. this will help shape the roots some what and facilitate the replanting of it.
note ..pear tree roots grow downwards, which is why traditionally they were planted next to stone dykes and walls, consider putting a few old slates in the planting hole before planting the sapling. you may wish to do the same for apple tree saplings if leaving in the ground for more than 3 years
there are reports that really old pear trees, over 300 years old, with rootstocks even older, 1550-1700, and when they blow down and the roots are ripped up side ways, old reused grave stones are revealed. this is also a good planting technique for trees planted in rocky ground where the soil is thin as it eventually causes the roots to grow sideways.
of course, old gravestones are at a premium, (although, oddly enough, i have a spare in a shed dating from 1605??) slabs make an acceptable substitute
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We moved an apple tree a few years ago and it has thrived - we moved it from the side of an east facing wall to the edge of the vege patch where it got evening sun as well. When we first moved in, we thought it was a cooker variety but the apples are now red and very sweet. Moving it wasn't a hassle but we did take a lot of care to dig a large root ball out and had the new hole dug beforehand. Good luck. :tree: