It is very important when moving a tree from one place to another to be aware of the time of year. Trees can have a lot of their water evaporate through their leaves and foliage during a transplanting effort. Dormancy season for conifer and deciduous trees, (those that lose their leaves in the fall), is the best season to transplant a tree. Once deciduous trees are losing their leaves it is a good signal that dormancy has settled into the Northwest each fall. Once transplanted, the tree will have ideal temperatures and the enthusiastic growth push of the season to help them adjust to the new space. Aftercare is imperative. The tree will need consistent, daily drip irrigation to the root ball surface to help the tree survive and adjust. Typically 15 minutes of drip per day during the growing season (April-October) will suffice. Do not water your trees during the dormant season.
Late Fall to Early Spring
Late fall to early spring in the Northwest is the ideal time of year for transplanting a tree. They will handle being dug and moved much better at that time of year. The timing is best when the tree can be handled before its new foliage has broken its bud casings.Early Fall
Some trees will do fine if you transplant them in the early fall, especially evergreen trees. If you live in a colder area/higher altitude environment, and an evergreen tree is being transplanted there from a warmer/lower altitude climate, then it’s best to transplant the tree in early spring and let it have a half a year in its new location before winter starts.Late Winter
Transplanting a tree in late winter is a fine time too, especially as it rarely freezes hard enough in our Puget Sound climate to make planting difficult. If it is too cold to be digging, our trucks won’t be on the road anyway.Summer
The middle of summer is the least desirable time of year for transplanting trees in our Puget Sound region. Deciduous trees have all their new leaves, and conifer trees have their fresh evergreen foliage. All of these trees are pulling hard for water through their existing root systems to nurture their new growth so disrupting this can be detrimental if not done with proper precaution, methods and aftercare. Fortunately, Big Trees has garnered significant experience in moving trees during the summer because of construction schedule demands. There are many techniques and treatments we use and have developed over the decades to help summer transplants along, including digging larger size rootballs than normally required and application of products that help put the tree in temporary dormancy during the transplant process. .Summary
Many construction companies are recognizing trees as priorities to their clients. In addition, there are many city development guidelines attempting to retain tree canopy in the face of our extreme pace of real estate development. Big Trees is the first in any consulting group to point out when a tree is not a good transplant candidate. Keeping our integrity and advisements as a trusted resource for builders and municipalities is a major priority in our assessment of transplanting opportunities.In our Puget Sound region, the importance of our urban and suburban trees and what they contribute to our environments is given significant consideration nowadays. Big Trees is very pleased to assist with the protection and retention of our region’s tree populations.
If you have more questions about transplanting you can always call a big tree specialist at Big Trees Inc., 360-563-2700.
Nancy Penrose is owner of Big Trees Inc. (https://www.bigtreesupply.com), (tree nursery Snohomish, WA), one of the largest Seattle tree nurseries, specializing in large trees for sale and transplant tree service. Learn more about tree preservation at https://bigtreesupply.com/tree-care-maintenance/ and for more tips on tree care or installation go to http://snohomishbigtrees.com/. See our video at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A6vVhNW1XJI and connect with us on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/pages/Big-Trees-Inc/193731105108.
Big Trees Inc. is one of the largest tree nurseries in the greater Seattle area, located in Snohomish, WA. They specialize in selling and installing trees of all sizes, especially large, mature trees. The company also transplants and moves trees, and has done work for the Seattle Seahawks, as well as for numerous cities, schools, colleges, universities, and thousands of home owners around the Seattle area.
The builder had been speculating on a property for some time, and in making their intentions for the property known, the city inspectors realized that this property would be losing most of its tree canopy to the renovation. The city made the suggestion to save a 25-foot tall Coastal Redwood tree as a way to mitigate some of the lost tree foliage on the property.
A woman came into Big Trees’ office one afternoon this spring and mentioned that she had a significant number of Rhododendrons that were lining her property frontage, and she was considering having them cut down. While she liked the privacy the trees gave, her property had recently been burglarized, and she felt the Rhododendrons were a part of the reason the thieves felt comfortable targeting her property.
The developer first contacted Big Trees in the middle of winter with an idea of transplanting some existing trees that were on a property. The trees were in the correct size range for the Big John 90-inch tree spade, and access was good to transplant the trees into the planned space.
Big Trees was approached by a customer who had a major accident occur with their neighbor, resulting in a lost hedge between the properties. The client’s neighbor had recently run a power cord along a row of tall Arborvitae trees to get some lighting into the daughter’s playhouse. Unfortunately, the Arborvitaes caught fire and the fire spread quickly throughout the entire 65-foot long hedge. The fire was exceptionally close to both residences, but fortunately, neither home caught on fire.