On Wed, 2 Feb 2005 13:24:40 -1200, "Colin Spooner"
wrote:

I have a Magnolia Stellata which is in the wrong position.
It has been in its present position about 8 years, and is 3 feet high,and 3
feet wide.
It is healthy and flowers well,but I want to move it.
Can I do this safely?
Many Thanks

The simple answer is yes, provided you do it correctly.

If it were mine, I'd move it no later than mid March, before it comes
into growth. I don't know what the soil is like where you are at the
moment, but down here in west Cornwall the recent spell of dry weather
has left it nicely friable and ideal for transplanting (the local
farmers are planting potatoes like fury, working in the dark well into
the evenings!)

First, prepare the new site. Dig in plenty of bulky, decomposed
organic matter (peat, leafmould, well-rotted manure or compost, or a
mixture) into an area at least four feet across. Then dig a
saucer-shaped hole in the centre, say three feet across and about
eight inches deep in the middle.

Now tackle the magnolia. Treseder (see earlier thread on magnolia
berries) suggests hard pruning, but he's talking about specimens much
bigger than yours, so I wouldn't do much, except perhaps shortening
back some of the longer branches. Dig a trench all round the trunk,
about a foot out from the stem and about a spit deep. Then cut in
under the root ball all round until the longer roots are cut and the
tree and its root-ball are effectively detached from the soil. Work
some strong hessian or heavy-gauge polythene sheet under the
root-ball, gather it up all round and tie it around the trunk with
twine. You can now move it to the new site, but if you have to lift
it, get help as it will be heavy. If you can drag it on the flat,
preferably using a bit of old corrugated iron or similar as a sledge,
that should be OK as the wrapping will protect the roots and keep them
together. Magnolias used to be routinely transplanted bare-rooted, so
if you lose a bit of soil on the way, it shouldn't matter too much,
although it will recover quicker the less the roots are disturbed.

Place the magnolia into the hole on the new site, making sure the top
of the root-ball is no lower than, and preferably slightly higher than
the surrounding soil surface. Magnolias are surface-rooting, and
burying their roots too deep suffocates them and kills the tree. Also
check that the tree is standing upright, and facing the way you want
it to. Ease out the hessian/polythene sheet, back-fill around the root
ball with a soil/compost mixture and firm in. Water well, and mulch
with more bulky organic matter.

Aftercare consist of no more than keeping it watered, but this is
important during the first summer. Water generously say once a week.


--
Chris

E-mail: christopher[dot]hogg[at]virgin[dot]net