Tips/Tricks for transplanting trees and bushes

I could not find a thread focused on how to be successful when transplanting trees and bushes so I figured I would make one.



With spring here, it is the season of transplanting both potted and bareroot stuffs.

How do you do it?

I'm still rather green when it comes to my process of transplanting things. My most recent process change comes from the fact that I have a lot of rock and gravel in my soil.

When I dig my planting hole, I now sift the dirt with 1/4" screen mounted on some 2x4s in order to remove large pieces. Sometimes there is a lot, sometimes there is a little, but I have increased my transplants survival rate by doing this with my anecdotal experience.

I like this one:

https://permies.com/t/160325/Ellen-White-Method-tree-planting

I'm following the Sepp Holzer method: the tree / shrub / plant I'm transplanting comes out in a cube of soil, roots and anything growing around the transplant.
It goes into a cube-shaped hole, with (this is what I do, I can't remember if it's a SH thing) some bone meal sprinkled and worked into the soil and a little bit of composted manure. If it's a tree, it gets a support pole.
Press transplant into hole, water it really well...that's it!

I go for a square or marquis shape hole when I'm planting my bare root trees and shrubs to force the roots to grow outwards. The only other thing I did was put miychorrizal inoculant on the roots and in the hole and backfilled with the soil and grass that came out of the hole. Most of what I planted last year had made it it seems. (A beauty berry, two black cherries, several redbud, American plums, and tulip poplars). It went pretty well with potted stuff to have straight sides to.my holes, so I'll continue doing that this year too.

I do a lot of what has been said with a strange addition. First I put my bare root trees in water while I prep the hole, so maybe 30ish minutes. I can't for the life of me dig a square hole, so I cut chunks out of the sides so it ends up kind of star shape. I dig the hole wider and deeper than recommended. At the bottom I put a large piece of wood. If any of my critters has died it goes in, or if we've had rotisserie chicken the bones go in. Then I will add some alfalfa pellets, then native soil then I will do layers of native soil, organic compost, and organic soil. Kind of mixing so it doesn't have distinctive layers. Just before I get to the level the tree will go in I put a healthy amount of organic fertilizer ( it varies for what I have, usually blood meal, bone meal, azamite, green sand, kelp, bio-live, maybe an all purpose organic fertilizer. It really just depends on what I have) then more of the same soil mix. A sprinkle of the organic fertilizer mix, compost and top off with 8" to 12" of wood chips, making sure not to touch the trunk with wood chips.  If it's very dry I water several times during the process. If the ground and soil I'm using are damp then just a good soaking when I'm done.  
I know this is strange, but it works very well for me. Where I live we have long very hot, very dry summers.   I'm not great at watering my trees, (I'm really trying to get better) my theory is the wood at the bottom will soak up the excess water holding a little reserve for the tree. It's low enough so hopefully it doesn't rob nitrogen from the tree (the alfalfa pellets are also to help with this).
It's a strange method I know, but before I started it the trees would either die, or just never really thrive. Since I started doing this method I haven't lost a tree, and they are growing well.

Timothy Norton wrote:I could not find a thread focused on how to be successful when transplanting trees and bushes so I figured I would make one.

(source)

With spring here, it is the season of transplanting both potted and bareroot stuffs.
How do you do it?

When you buy potted plants, you may have a slightly better transplanting rate because "the plant doesn't suffer transplant shock". Well, that's the song anyway.
However, I have been burned a couple of times: when you buy "potted", you buy a pig in a poke and you may find that you only got a stick with a couple of roots.
For that reason, I only buy bare roots. This way, I can personally verify that it has a healthy root system that is well balanced with the amount of plant above the ground and that the roots are spreading properly. [Sometimes, they plant the tree almost horizontal so they don't have to dig so deep to get it out. Well, the roots still try to dive and the tree end up being quite lopsided, almost like an L].
You already have the soil at home, so why buy the soil [and I guarantee that the soil doesn't go cheap, either!]
Also, at the end of the season, you will get better bargains because the pot is getting small and they would rather sell at a discount than be stuck with storing the plant and try to resell next spring in a bigger pot [and more soil, which also doesn't come cheap!].
That is also something we should talk about: There are 2 planting seasons. Spring AND  Fall. And of the two, fall is probably better: The plant/ tree will have all fall and winter to adapt its roots to its new environment because it is dormant. You plant it and water and leave it be over the winter. In the spring, it will start on its own.
As long as we are talking transplants, why not transplant your own stuff, by multiplying what you already have. Take a chance: It doesn't cost anything: take a few cuttings and plop them in: Use a 1" drill bit and poke a hole in good soil, drop the cutting in it. Firm the soil and water and walk away. Also, a smaller transplant will not suffer a transplant shock like a huge tree will.
Certainly all raspberries and gooseberry  "trimmings" can go in the ground that way. I have a few black currants that I trimmed late this fall and planted in a pail of soil. They really look full of life in mid march. Elderberries too.
Try new things: graft your own apple trees. That too is cheaper than buying a big 6 foot tree that may or may not survive.
As you see, there are many options besides buying the big potted tree in the spring.

I forgot a very important step with bare-root, and maybe even potted plants. Prune them. The bare-root peach trees I planted had a very small amount of roots, and a bunch of branches. By removing some of the branches, and pruning the rest it gives the tree a better chance to sustain itself.

Jen Fulkerson wrote:I forgot a very important step with bare-root, and maybe even potted plants. Prune them. The bare-root peach trees I planted had a very small amount of roots, and a bunch of branches. By removing some of the branches, and pruning the rest it gives the tree a better chance to sustain itself.

Indeed, Jen. As I was saying the whole idea is to not demand too much of these roots as they are just transplanted: If there is a large top above ground and few roots, it just will not work.  You are correct that you may be able to salvage the situation by pruning the top. (That is another reason why you want to see those roots before you buy).

Smaller fruit trees and bushes, which are happily munched on by all sorts of woodland creatures, on my homestead now get a stake in the ground with attached chicken wire by default.

Using chickens to stress test a double stake chicken wire design.

Once the protected thing gets to a decent size, I unwrap the chicken wire and remove the stake that held it in place.

I've found any scrap fence piece and wire gauge is enough deterrence for most critters.

An alternative to my chicken wire pest deterrent could be Sepp Holzer's Bone Sauce that is applied right to the plant.



I have not tried this, but I may in the near future.

Dig a fifty dollar hole for a five dollar tree. Also make sure to loosen the soil below the rootball. Ideally the hole should be at minimum three times the diameter of the rootball!  Having a large loose area promotes good deep & wide fast rooting. Be wary of over watering.

My go to are these videos. Also, if you can prep the soil year(s) in advance, fertilize the top soil heavily with composted pig manure (with biochar) and deciduous wood chips and leaves.

https://youtu.be/TjYaibk_dCY?si=C9EGDpucrSvJZxb1

https://youtu.be/ZV2kr50K7Is?si=z7BCdtUo1e8q-Tnx

https://youtu.be/lnmpeYFBm54?si=DBxZbuNbljYokdQJ

Timothy Norton wrote:An alternative to my chicken wire pest deterrent could be Sepp Holzer's Bone Sauce that is applied right to the plant.

I have not tried this, but I may in the near future.

I can only recommend Holzer's Bone Sauce, I made my first last fall and it worked out great.
I had deer, rabbits, voles, you name it, eat everything down to nothing, and now it's untouched...

Might be obvious for the seasoned, might not be for the beginner, but I don’t think it’s been mentioned here:

Your soil returning to the hole (backfill) should be compacted periodically. Add a layer, compact, add a layer, compact. This secures the soil around the roots and prevents the tree from tipping over in the wind. It also prevents your soil around the tree from sinking to create a depression over time (loose soil settles over time) which would need to be filled in to avoid puddling as well as destabilizing the tree.

I usually do 3 layers of filling and compacting, depending on the size of the hole. The top layer starts off over-filled, but after compacting ends up being level with the surrounding soil (err on the side of slightly higher, but AVOID the “tree volcano”—image search if needed).

I’ve used a wood garden stake (1”x1”) with success but anything similar size would work. Tamping with “medium” strength (not too hard, not too soft). Avoid hitting the roots.

Another reason this helps is because, as the tree roots will have consistent soil density to move through. If the soil is loose right around the tree and compacted further out (where you didn’t dig), the roots may tend to stay in the looser, softer soil rather than extending into the undisturbed soil beyond the hole.

Last tip (which may be controversial) is to add your soil amendments (compost, etc.) AFTER you backfill the hole with the original soil only. Sprinkle your amendment in a circle that is wider than the hole you dug so it’s sitting on top of the original soil. Rain water (or irrigation) will carry the nutrients down into the soil and the tree roots will grow outward and out of the hole into the original soil. Adding lots of fluffy compost to the hole can compromise soil stability.

As you may realize, these methods are intended to encourage stability. Soil can be amended over time (from the surface), but if the tree falls over, what’s the point? I planted hundreds of trees at orchards and working for arborists using this method. As long as the trees aren’t very large when transplanted, no stakes are necessary.