Do these trees have a chance??????

[jonspolaris]

our neighbors just got 4 austrian pines transplanted onto there lawn. the trees are 6"-8" in caliper.

the company that moved them did NOT overdig the holes that the treespade made. there is no mulch on them, they are not staked and they have not been watered.

is overdiging necessary when using a treespade?? the soil is Black dirt for the first 8-10" and its sand and clay mix after that.
were located in southeast michigan.

do these trees have a chance at surviving ???

i give them 1 month before there dead.

any opnions would be appreciated.

[racerdave]

Down here we don't over dig them. We do fill around them with sand to work out air entrapment. Then water them. Generally we don't stake a "spade tree" unless it's a huge one.
David

[paul]

How tall are the Pines????
A chance, sure they'll make it at this time of year how much water do pines need??

Not watered? When we ran a tree spade we had water on the truck (200 gallons) we watered them as we planted them.

Over digging with a tree spade????????
How big was the spade, a 6" trunk on a pine is only a 10' tall tree here you could move that with a 44" spade, most guys won't put a 44" spade on the road, 55" is the smallest here. we ran a 65"

[jonspolaris]

thanks,

the trees are farly large, like 12'-15'tall, I dont know the size of the tree spade but it was pretty large. the truck it was mounted on was a Tandem axel GMC brigader.

i was told that when the spade is forced into the ground to make new hole it "glazes" the side of the hole. i was told that you are sposta overdig the hole to allow the roots to expand to soil that hasent been "glazed".

has anyone eles herd of this??

these trees are not small and i would hate to see them dry up.

jon

[paul]

I don't think you are going to have a problem, a tree spade that big 80" will have no problem with them, now if they where collected trees (never root pruned) you might have a problem. Your soils are great for growing pines, sandy soils even if mixed with clay make a good hole and there is little need for over digging.

[greens1]

In my area we have mostly blue clay soil, this is not good for any type of pines. I have seen a large number of Pinus nigra and Pinus sylvestris die due to needle cast, I am almost certain it is cultural.

I try to avoid planting pines in this area, simply the wrong soil. If the customer insists on pines then I usually include verticle mulching in the price.

If they are planted in well drained soils then they will probably be ok. If they are planted in heavy clay, without vertical mulching, then they stand little chance. Needle Cast or other pests will wipe out a overstressed pine in a hurry.

Jim L

[jonspolaris]

they did not root prune or top prune the trees before they moved them. they just "plucked" them with the tree spade and droped them in the new holes.

in some areas around the trees u can see that the dripline of the tree is larger than the root-ball, this is because the spade cut off the rest of the roots.

is this a problem??

thanks

[paul]

In asking if the pines where root pruned, did they come from a nursery? or where they collected from some field where they were growning wild? Some of us move a lot of trees and the ball can't be as big as the drip line, some tres we move are 12' wide there is no way to move a 12' ball with out some very special equipment. We never prune our pines unless they are in candle then we cut the candles back.

[jonspolaris]

the trees did not come from a nurshery. the neighbor got them from another neighbor that wanted to get rid of them. they were just "plucked" from his property and then droped in the holes in the new location.

the trees look like there in candle right now.


jon

[paul]

Still shouldn't be too much of a problem, you've been getting rain?

[Avery]

Austrians are pretty tough. They have a better than average chance with the planting method you described. Trees of that size do not need to be staked. Several universities have done studies that show a staked tree takes longer to establish than one not staked. In absence of rain the trees should be watered for at least the first 6-8 weeks. Also a transplant aid such as Superthrive applied to the tree would improve survival chances. I would suggest to you neighbor to buy some tree gators for each tree. It is hard to hand water a tree that size correctly.

[jonspolaris]

Originally posted by Avery
Austrians are pretty tough. They have a better than average chance with the planting method you described. Trees of that size do not need to be staked. Several universities have done studies that show a staked tree takes longer to establish than one not staked. In absence of rain the trees should be watered for at least the first 6-8 weeks. Also a transplant aid such as Superthrive applied to the tree would improve survival chances. I would suggest to you neighbor to buy some tree gators for each tree. It is hard to hand water a tree that size correctly.


I was always told that when u plant a new tree u have to water it alot to get the roots established. i thought this was especially important on larger trees.


What is Superthrive?? and what are tree gators??

i was going to just have him just set the hose on top of the roots and let it run for a while. It has rained today but i dont think it was enough to soak all the roots, only a short downpour.

when i looked at the trees today they looked awful around where they were put into the ground. they need to be mulched badly. there is big holes that are left arond the roots that were not backfilled.

thanks

[greens1]

A tree gator, or tree bag, fits arround the trunk of a tree and provides drip moisture. Follow the link and run a seach under tree gator then goto plant protection.: https://secure.forestry-suppliers.com/securecat.htm

If you have a larger tree you can zip 2 or even 3 tree gators together.

I am not certain what superthrive is, but I use the Die Hard Transplant Packs which contain benificial fungi, water management gel , fertilzer and surfactant.

Jim L

[Avery]

go to www.superthrive.com Stuff really works when tranplanting larger B&B material. Those air pockets have to be filled though.
Hope this helps.

[smithsonmi]

I checked out that superthrive site (what a crazy site, every page looks like the back of a Pop Science classified or something).

Does this stuff work on previously planted material to encourage stronger growth? (1 year in the ground) I do have one crabtree that seems to be dying of fungus, I wonder if this would help it.

What are the guidelines for applying? (I couldn't find this on the site).

Thanks!

[greens1]

That superthrive site shure is somthing, tells you everything but what it is. If anyone is interested there is some info on mycorrhizal transplant pacs at the following site. http://www.treemail.nl/eurobio/products/mycorriz.htm

Pacs can be ordered through www.forestry-suppliers.com

Jim L