About 15 years ago I was working for AT&T and my co-workers for my Birthday, (April 6th) gave me three fruit tree's. Two cherries and an apple. They were designated to the far back corner of our Garden. Beetles got one of the cherries a few years ago... And this apple tree was pretty much laying on it's side (due to a Bear squashing it down from the topside, and Moles diggin the roots out on the bottom side....then on top of that the goats have figured out how to get back there and just love the new Apple shoots......
Anyway she was suffering on that spot so I asked her for permission to move her. Solid ground, no goats or bears ( In the fenced yard). It would be such a better spot for her....and it would open up the back of the property beautifully. So, how do you upright, and dig out the roots of a tree this Big.
Well, I have a hernia and my wrist has been hurtin for a few days... (tend to work beyond physical limitations sometimes/often... trying to do this less often.....
So since uprighting that tree and basically pulling it up was a tad beyond my limitations, I put my trusty comealong to work, with a couple of heavy duty crane belts and a sturdy cherry tree....
First I dug out all around it, kinda deep to get as much of the roots as I could. These hadn't spread out a whole lot, but were packed into the hole I had dug for it years ago . (We don't have soil here...we have clay, we have to make our soil...so I had dug a big whole in the clay, filled it with soil, and planted the tree....and it filled up that hole as if it was planted in a pot....
So, I exposed as much roots as I could, dug as deep as I could then cut them off. (If you try pulling them out they tend to break off at the root cluster before they will break off in the ground, so you gotta cut em.
Lookin at the back side of the house from where I was digging
Another view
So I got it dug out pretty good, cut the roots where needed, the wrapped the belt around the root ball
Cranked on my come along and pulled it up out of the hole.
Filled in the hole and tipped the wheelbarrow down, put the root ball in the wheelbarrow and tied the tree to the handle of the wheelbarrow.
Then Taryn held the front of the wheelbarrow, as you can see Bracken is in the Drivers seat.. Then she pulled and I pushed all the way from the back corner, to the front yard.... and the perfect spot. Isn't that woman Shiny......
Had a pre-dug hole out front. Put a bunch of organic compost, azomite, rock phosphate and some limestone down in the hole..
I had some microbials and sprinkled them on the roots...Had a rooting compound that I put in my sprayer and sprayed the root ball, then gave it a big drink of ferts and vitamin B3 to help with the shock...
Put in a fence post to strap the tree to until it gets good and rooted.
Happy Papa, successful move.
Then I used some 2 by 4 stickers stickers we were givin and some bark from firewood, and made a frame....
TA DA
