Moving a Chitalpa tree?

We have a four year old Chitalpa tree http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/79098 that was planted in the wrong spot and needs to go. We would like to save it and have considered digging it up this winter. Our plan is to wait until it's totally dormant, prepare a new planting hole, then prune back by 1/3 and dig it up. Can anyone add tips to give us a better chance of success? Anything we should add to the planting hole that would help with the shock of the move and encourage root growth?

These are beautiful trees that do well here and we sure hope we can save it.

Thanks,
Kathleen

How big is it now? I know they grow pretty fast, so cutting it back while dormant, by 1/3 is a good (and preferred ) idea.

Just make sure the root ball that you get is in alignment with the "new" drip line after you trim it prior to moving it.

Hard to say how deep the root ball should be since we don't know how tall the tree currently is, but theoretically it should be a deep as it is wide.

3 of us moved a Robinia that had been in the ground for three years. It originally had been in a 15 gallon can. We waited until it went completely dormant, did like you are planning to do, and cut it back by 1/3. It had a million roots (like most fast growing trees) so we made the root ball 36" square. and about 30" deep.

A guy with a bobcat cut the underneath of the rootball free for us, (we had pre-dug the 4 sides of it) and then lifted the tree out of the hole, and moved it to the opposite side of the property into the new pre-dug new hole.

This all took place in Valencia, in November.

I watered it in with B1 and the winter rains took care of watering from that point. It survived the move beautifully and bounced back just fine in the spring as if nothing had ever been done to it.

Afterward, I realized we could have done a 24" root ball and achieved the same results.

Oy! It's going to be a bigger job than I thought. No room to get a bobcat in there, but DH has a thing he made (come-along winch?) that should help. The tree is maybe 10 feet tall? I'm not too good at estimating. B1 was one thought I had. We'll have to water it pretty good beforehand, too, since our soil is like concrete.

About the drip line comment: you mean that we should be sure the new hole is big enough to accommodate the existing diameter of the root ball?

At least we'll have a nice hole to put something new in!

Thanks JD!

No, the root ball should be cut to the dimensions equivalent to the size of the tree's new drip line after you trim it.

If it's only ten feet tall, you shouldn't have any trouble. I was thinking your tree was 20 feet plus in height.

The Robinia we moved was as tall as a two story house...so it was about 25 feet tall.

I would definitely wait until you know for sure that there won't be any more surprise heat waves, and definitely when it's gone dormant.

And yes, soak the heck out of it beforehand to make the digging easier, and water in the NEW hole beforehand as well...that way once you move it, the surrounding soil of it's new locale won't be sucking the moisture away from it.

Also, once you move it, and have it in place, stabilize it with two stakes...one on each side, (instead of ONE right next to the trunk) and secure it with those ties that are made of tire treads.

Oh, now I understand! I could be off by a couple of feet, but no more.

25 feet - wow! - that WAS a big job. This was the second slowest growing Chitalpa (out of 5) we planted. One is still a small multi-branched bush and we moved it last year.

Besides having outgrown its spot, we think this one is growing "in a pot" - several other things in this area grew slowly, too.

Will-do on your other comments. We'll probably wait until the holidays when the dear stepson is coming to visit - he's nice and tall and will be useful. :-)

Thanks again!