How late in the year can you transplant a tree?

[Pab Sungenis]

At the community theater I'm on the board of, we have a small tree problem.

We don't know where the seed for it came from, but a maple tree has taken root near our stage door. It was among a patch of weeds that had been neglected and were finally torn out about two months ago. It's grown to about three feet tall with no attention from humans.

As the VP whose bailiwick includes building and grounds, I'm concerned about it. It's growing faster than any of us had expected, and it's near our oil tank and the line to our septic tank. Not to mention the foundation of our building, any of which could end up being threatened by its roots.

We know it can't stay there, but I don't want to kill this little thing. I have no trees on my property (the developer stiffed us when we bought out house; they were supposed to plant two trees in our front yard but never did) and would like to give it a new home here. The original plan was to transplant it in the spring, but since it's shot up quickly since we found it, I don't think I can take a chance.

Is it possible to transplant a tree in the Northeast in November and have it survive?

[NV Whino]

1. Wait until the tree goes dormant then transplant

Make sure to take a large area around it so as not to damage roots. But other than that, it should do fine . Maple are resilient. Oaks, not so much. Very hard to transplant oaks.

[Wilms]

2. Here are a couple of links.

http://en.allexperts.com/q/Trees-739/transplant-maple-tree.htm

http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php/405374-How-to-Transplant-Maple-Tree

I'd add that you do it on a cloudy day to keep the sun of the root hairs.

[Denninmi]

3. Yes, I wouldn't hesitate at all.

You still have a good 3-4 weeks before the really hard freeze up is likely. Just dig as much of the root system as you can, water it in well, and then try to put 4 to 6 inches of mulch of some kind over the soil in its new location -- the mulch will insulate the roots and give the tree time to make some new, fine feeder roots before the soil freezes up.

[DainBramaged]

4. Here’s a general list of trees that should not be dug during the Fall

Abies concolor – Concolor Fir

Acer rubrum – Red Maple
Acer japonica – Full Moon Maple
Acer saccharinum – Silver Maple
Acer freemanii – Freeman Maple
Betula (all) – Birch
Carpinus (all) – American Hornbeam, Ironwood
Cedrus Deodara – Blue Atlas Cedar
Celtis (all) – Hackberry
Cercis – Redbud
Cornus – Dogwood
Crataegus (all) – Hawthorn
Cupressocyparis leylandii – Leyland Cypress ***
Fagus (all) – Beech
Ilex x Fosterii – Foster Holly***
Ilex Nellie Stevens – Nellie Stevens Holly***
Ilex opaca Greenleaf – American Holly ***
Juniper virginiana – Easter Red Cedar
Liquidambar – Sweetgum
Liriodendron – Tulip Tree
Malus (move as late as possible) – Crabapple
Nyssa sylvatica -Tupelo, Black Gum, Sour Gum
Oystrya virginiana – Ironwood, Hophornbeam
Pinus nigra – Austrian Pine
Platanus (all) – Planetree
Pyrus (all) – Pear
Quercus (all) – Oak
Taxodium – Baldcypress
Taxus b. Repandens – English Yew

Tilia tomentosa (other Tilia ok) – Silver Linden
Zelkova (all)

http://www.plantnj.com/blog/2011/11/09/nj-landscaping-trees-fall-tree-planting-and-landscaping/

[Botany]

10. Not to be nasty but that list is worthless

I have dug and moved just about every tree on that list in the fall.

[BlueToTheBone]

13. Well, we're past fall, so it will be okay.

[Botany]

5. As long as the ground is not frozen you can move it now

Matter of fact you want to move deciduous trees when they are dormant.

But before you move it what kind of maple is it? If it is a Norway Maple
then kill it because it is a non native invasive species. If it is a silver maple
you might not want to plant it around your house.

BTW I do have a degree in botany and have worked in the nursery and landscape industry for years.

[dipsydoodle]

9. ditto

no ground frost too and use plenty of compost in an adequate size hole.

[FarCenter]

16. Plus Norway maples are weak and subject to wind and ice storm damage

They grow fast, but they are not a good choice for ornamental and shade tree purposes. They also shed lots of maple seeds, which are a bother in gutters, etc.

Choose a small, strong, resilient species that doesn't grow too tall and plant it where its fall will not damage structures and utilities if you are in an area subject to hurricanes, noreasters, ice storms, etc.

[LiberalEsto]

17. Silver maples are a major pain in the ass

We have two huge ones in our back yard. Their roots go everywhere, including the vegetable garden.

Roots grow out of the ground surface so you end up constantly tripping over them.

The branches are weak, so they constantly break off. Picking up broken branches is a never-ending chore.

It's difficult to grow grass under them, hard to mow around them, and hard to plant almost anything else underneath them. They suck up all the nutrients in the soil. I manage with creeping jenny on the south side, and periwinkle on the north side.

I wish I could trade them for a pair of sugar maples, but given their size, it's not possible.

[Botany]

19. Silver Maples in the right area are fine*

* Flood Plains or some damp area in a farm field where you want a tree to grow big and fast to give shade for livestock.

As per your silver maples I would go and get a couple of small black gums or sugar maples and plant them close to the silver
maples and in a few years remove the silver maples.

[LiberalEsto]

25. Thanks for the suggestions. They are very good.

A few years ago we planted a pair of hybrid American-Chinese chestnuts, which we hope will start producing edible nuts in the next few years. I hope they will grow into big shade trees, but I probably won't be around to see them.

We also planted a small red maple, several varieties of viburnum and a Stellar dogwood (which you probably know is a hybrid of native and Kousa dogwood developed by Rutgers U., my alma mater.)

Having the silver maples cut down would set us back several thousand dollars at least, and it's not something we can afford. I'll grumble but put up with them for their shade.

[Botany]

26. If you can have some tree companies give bids on ...

..... cutting them down in the winter when they are slow.

[Major Nikon]

29. Yep, now is the best time of year to move trees

Small trees don't have as much danger to transplant shock also. Just make sure you keep the root ball intact and water regularly.

[demodonkey]

6. Now is a good time to transplant, while the sap is down.

Dig it out with enough dirt so that its roots aren't damaged too much; when you take it to your yard, make sure that you did a large enough hole that the roots have room.

Put a bucket or two of water in the hole when you replant, and keep it watered unless the weather is below freezing.

A three-foot maple should do fine, they are pretty hardy when it comes to transplanting.

My father always liked to transplant trees on January 1. But November is good. It's the month of Arbor Day -- plant trees!

[nykym]

7. I would say yes

But here is a site with more info.
http://www.ag.ndsu.edu/pubs/plantsci/trees/f1147w.htm#Season

[dixiegrrrrl]

8. Trees like maples go dormant in cold weather.

the "usual" time for planting is EARLY fall and early spring.
That way the tree is still able to develop healthy roots after planting.
Were it me, I would plant it soon as possible after last frost in spring.
Biggest problem with planting/transplanting is people do not dig a bit enough diameter hole, which allows the roots to spread out
2nd biggest problem is they do not water the planting deep enough, and often the first year after planting.

[PearliePoo2]

11. Similar situation happened to me.

It was a little Maple also!
We dug it up getting as much dirt and its roots as practical. Put the whole thing on a tarp for transport.
We had already prepared a nice BIG hole (way bigger than its root ball).
Added some good topsoil and some mulch, mixed it all up so its new soil was soft and fluffy.
It could be that temperature is key too...not sure if constant below freezing would be all that good (?)
Our little tree did JUST FINE. Grew like a weed, in fact. Good luck!
(the deer will seek out and ravage young Maples though)

[Pab Sungenis]

18. Sadly we have no deers in our neighborhood.

We don't even have feral cats around here. All we have is a flock of wild turkeys that poke their heads into our drainage pond from time to time.

[BlueToTheBone]

12. This is the perfect time.

The tree is dormant. Dig deep and try not to cut the tap root. Dig a nice deep hole, don't fertilize, maybe throw some bone meal down in the bottom, pack the earth tight, water deeply (to remove any air pockets) mulch with neighboring leaves (or straw, or newspaper) and wait till spring. You'll be rewarded with incredible color all year round. Autumn will become your favorite season because of the way it changes.

[BoWanZi]

14. Good question, I have a small Lilac bush that needs to move too

The bush/tree is about 18 inches tall but it is smack in the middle of where we put our cars during the winter when the snow flies hard and we have to move cars off the street.

Is it possible to move the Lilac bush at this time of year and how much do I need to dig up?

[Botany]

21. yes you can move it now

dig a root ball that is approximately 18" to 2 feet wide.

work some some good compost/top soil around the root ball when you plant it, a light mulch, and
run a hose on it at a trickle for about 1/2 an hour it will do fine ..... btw plant it in a sunny spot.

[BoWanZi]

22. Thank you very much!!

[MelungeonWoman]

15. Another yes vote here...

A couple of weeks ago might have been better but right now is still an excellent time to move your tree. Mulch it well after you water the crap out of it but leave a bare collar around the trunk of the tree so mice and voles won't damage it over the winter.

[DURHAM D]

20. Your little self-starting tree is called "a volunteer".

good luck with the move

[Xithras]

23. I don't know if I'd bother.

At only 3 feet, you can simply grow another fairly quickly. My home has two large Scottish maples on one side, and a number of much smaller Japanese maples surrounding it on the other sides. We've had a number of volunteers pop up over the years and have tried to transplant them to other areas of the property, or give them to friends, and they often have problems re-rooting in the new locations. I'd say that maybe 1-in-3 survived the moves. Professionally raised trees are usually grown with root blockers around them, to provide a well defined root ball. Wild trees send their roots straight out, and you will likely have to cut a large number of them to get the tree out. In my experience, the smaller volunteers simply don't recover well from that.

And if it's a silver, I'd just whack it and forget it. One of my neighbors once had a silver in her front yard and it was a nightmare. She was regularly having surface roots removed, one large limb fell on her car and totaled it, and a few years later a second large limb broke off during a storm and punched a hole through her dining room ceiling. She had it cut down after that. The tree was healthy, but silver maples are notoriously weak-limbed. As someone else here mentioned, it also sucked all the water from the surface under the tree, and it was nearly impossible to grow a lawn...or nearly any other decorative plants...underneath it. She ended up relandscaping with a couple of birch trees and was much happier.

[BiggJawn]

24. Silver Maples will seek out your sewer line

And one day, you'll flush the pot and it'll back up into the bathtub.

Had to cut the roots out 3 times in 9 years. Removing the tree wasn't an option.

Real POS tree.

[lonestarnot]

27. Shame on you! There are no POS trees!

:evilgrin:

[BiggJawn]

30. Silver maple, Bradord Pear, The tree that smells like a corpse...

that maple that launches billions of seed (the little slut!) Yeah, the only thing they're fit for is the fireplace. ;)

[backwoodsbob]

28. it's actually a good time

go for it