In article , "gologa"
wrote:

I want to buy a large (6" or greater diameter) live oak for my S-SW Austin
backyard. Does anyone know where to get one that big, and have it installed.

p.s. - I have heard about very big oaks being moved/transplanted before,
even 16-24 inch and larger diameter ones, but how is this done without
damaging some roots?
And I don't want to deal with Teds Trees again, as they often sell lemons
that die within a year. The survival of one of their trees is a 50/50
proposition, is seems, because they simply dig up sizeable trees to sell at
the lot, and they are not very careful transplanting. I have several
personal and neighbor experiences that will bear witness to this.

Thanks!
gologa



You are doing more than damaging some roots - the link I provide below (by
Dr. Gary Watson from the Morton Arboretum) says that greater than 98% of
the root system will be left behind when transplanting a tree of this
size: he says a 4 inch caliper tree has an 18 foot root spread. If the
transplant root ball is 44 inches you can see how much you have left
behind. Further the article also says, that roots grow about 18 inches a
year. So it will take a very long amount of time (five years) to come
back in balance. Naturally, till the crown and root are in balance you
need very intensive care for a sucessful transplant - clearly the people
who are complaining about Teds trees may not realize how badly out of
balance the root system is relative to the canopy and may not realize how
intensively they need to care for the tree to compensate.

Here is the link to the article:

http://www.dnr.state.mn.us/fid/may97/transhck.html

Roland