In John Bartley I
solved my XP problems w/ Service Pack Linux wrote:
Have a 12' Japanese Maple, a wedding gift we planted 30 months ago,
which we want to move from our old to our new home.

Your experience in moving trees, and perhaps a referral to a qualified
expert in the Portland area, would be appreciated.



i'm no expert, but i'm in portland (or) and moved a 25-year old j. maple
last fall. my neighbors were removing it and said i could have it if i
wanted to move it. what a beast! it was a long, hard day, but that's
another story. it leafed out beautifully this spring, right on time, and
doesn't appear to be suffering in any way, although it'll be a couple of
years before i believe it's okay.

i consulted someone at tsugawa nursery (right up the road in woodland,
wa - http://www.tsugawanursery.com/). i basically prepared the new spot
well and threw some Mycorrhiza pellets around as wide as the tree's
canopy before moving it. i had to just cut through a lot of large roots,
which was scary, but my expert said it wouldn't matter. i was sure i'd
killed it by the time i was halfway through that moving day.

since moving it, i've kept it moist (we've had a lot of rain, so that's
been easy) and watered in a bucket of 'organica plant growth activator'
every few weeks.

as i said, it looks beautiful now. if it is (as i can't help fearing)
just using the last of its stored energy, well, i tried!

fwiw, i wouldn't dare move one now, after it has broken dormancy. i'd
say late november would be about right in my area...

of course i had nothing to lose but a beautiful FREE specimen. if you're
dealing with sentimental value and you've got the cash, pay a
professional to do it for you. definitely.

sam
z/8 pnw