Transplanting a 30 foot Quercus

How big of a rootball is needed and should pink flamingos be outlawed?

Your opinion is desired, thanks:

Dax

a deep rootball, their taproot goes straight down.

ps. only if they fly over a high traffic area

Trunk diameter (caliper) is usually the reference on sizing the relative size of the soil ball you want to try to take with the plant. Standards call for 10-12" of ball diameter for each 1" of caliper on most deciduous trees in the eastern U.S. Which Quercus is getting moved?

Thus, 2" tree goes for 20-24" ball; 6" = 60-72" and so on. As you reach the upper limits of mechanical transplanting (tree spades), then you may be limited by how big a crane you are willing to hire and how tired you might get digging a 14' wide root ball (did a few of those on sugar maples for a farm I used to work at).

On an oak that size (25 years old? 30?), the taproot will probably be negligible. That feature is generally only important on young plant survivability and decreases to nil in importance on a tree the size you are describing.

Finally, an oak that is 30' tall and hasn't had any preparation for transplanting (like root pruning, etc. that a nursery that specializes in actually moving this size plant might do during the tree's growing lifetime) stands a low percentage of actually surviving the move. But, hope springs eternal, and with decades of fine aftercare and perfect conditions, who knows?

Go for it, and take lots of pics.

VV That is straight forward information... It seems it is almost the dripline of some of our oaks around here.

Why does the taproot become negligible as they get older? Does it stop going deeper? Or is it encompassed by the size of the rootball?

Could you rootprune that tree this winter & plan to move it next year?

Yes, I provided pretty general information on Dax's question. I'd need a lot more specifics about the tree in question before I'd give any more detailed directions, especially regarding root-pruning, etc.

Guy, Lucky_P, and a host of others should add to this for botanical accuracy, but the following should be pretty close to what you are asking about.

The "taproot" on young (seedling) trees is a storage organ acting as a survival tool. Young plants are subject to a host of horrors in their effort to reach for the sky. Predation by insects, grazing by hoofed browsers, fire, drought, disease, trampling, etc. all conspire to shorten the lifespan of the many seedlings that sprout. Some trees (oaks, hickories, walnuts, etc.) have the adaptation of a big fat single carrot-like root in their youth that acts like a warehouse. When the leaves or stems are damaged, the plant draws on this resource to resprout new leaves/stems.

As the tree grows larger/taller, and has a much more extensive root system laterally to gather nourishment from the soil (generally in the top 24 inches around here), the "taproot" becomes unnecessary (vestigial) and diminishes in importance and value to the tree. You'd have to dig one up in order to "see" if it is still there, but it doesn't exist as a proportionally bigger "carrot" under a mature tree indefinitely. In soils of the Ohio River valley that you and I experience, the depth to which roots will function (aeration-wise, or saturation-wise, or geologically) is limited, too. The root ball shapes you see when buying a plant are often simply a matter of physics. For health of the plant, you'd want a lot more horizontal lateral roots, and you would end up with a ball shaped more like a fat pancake. That would be difficult to handle and keep in one piece.

This proportion of root system dimension can vary with species of tree around the world, and with the soil type that the plant is growing in. I constrain my remarks to typical transplanting conditions for the upper south and midwestern U.S., where my experiences occur. I don't pretend to speak to the conditions of Florida (like with palms, and really sandy soil regimes) or California or other arid growing areas/conditions.

For those who are insatiable in their thirst for knowledge about all things root-iferous, please seek out just about anything by Dr. Gary W. Watson. He used to be (might still be) at the Morton Arboretum in Lisle, IL. Two texts I have that are great standards are:

•The Landscape Below Ground (1993)
•Principles and Practices of Planting Trees and Shrubs (1997)

Both of these are/were available through the International Society of Arboriculture, and I imagine elsewhere, too.

well thank you for the extra info. I am off to look it up.

Let us know how the transplant goes conifer...

(2) Quercus palustris (Pin Oak) were already moved early fall of last. They were dug and planted at my father's best friend's home. One made it (not a lot of foliation), the other did not.

These guys didn't get enough roots in my opinion when I saw that the top diamter looked to be about 5' across x (depth - unknown to me) I'd have to ask him if he saw how much depth was delivered at planting.

The one that didn't make it, these guys are removing for him without charge as they promised each tree would survive.

Thanks a lot so far for the info VV. This friend of the family is doing a lot of projects like this as he was a winner of the lottery at a tune of ~100,000 dollars.

Thanks a lot,

Dax

How to make a small fortune...

Is the "friend of the family" the purchaser of the trees, or the contractor moving the trees? I want to make sure who I'm disparaging as I do so.

If the height was ~30', it was probably a 12" diameter tree at least. You might find that out; measure the tree about a foot above the soil line. If so, a 60" tree spade (depth of ball will be 36-40" depending on spade manufacturer) is just a joke and the contractor ought to be sued for repayment. That size tree should have had a minimum 90" spade (penetration of about 48" depth, cone-shaped ball) to have minimal chance at living.

For Quercus palustris, the depth of the transplant ball is meaningless. It's all about the width of the ball and quantity of roots brought to the game. I'd bet the 30' trees, wherever they came from, weren't adequately prepared for moving. I don't think a self-respecting grower would sell a quality plant and let someone transplant it with an undersized piece of equipment.

Keep us tuned as you learn more about this.

I just found this. I agree with everything VV told you, and I thank him for saving me a whole lot of hunt-and-peck typing.

If your friend wants to spend his money doing something really useful with/for trees, please send him down here. We currently are accepting grants to endow Starhill Forest, and for that kind of cash we'd even put his name on a memorial bench!

Guy S.

Davey Tree might have some info on their site.

There's a big outfit in CA too.

We move small to medium big trees.

If you ever notice the photos of the big trees - even oaks - on the websites of Davey Tree, etc., you will notice that the root balls are much wider than deep (for the old trees).

Many tree movers spend time preparing trees in advance; like root pruning and such.

Yeah ViburnumKing their 30 feet tall. I wouldn't exaggerate.

Thank you all for your thoughts.

Gotta get pumped up for the Blues Fest on the grand ol' Mississippi River. A little bar-hopping some VW Van karma - and a smooth ride.

Later yall,

Dax