someone wrote:
A nice orchard with about 40 apple trees is about to be destroyed, along
with the farmhouse, in order to build a giant warehouse a mile or so from
us. The (ex-)owner has said we can gather the apples, which we are doing for
our local cider-making project.

BUT - is there any way of saving these trees, short of taking cuttings from
them to graft? Someone proposed digging them up and moving them to another
site, but they're probably too old.

Any opinion welcomed on what to do now. It's all so sad.

Yes, apple trees seem to be very forgiving. In a garden of a friend a
mature apple tree - a favourite one - was blown over in a gale. She
asked me to cut it up, but I suggested leaving it as it was, as it had a
small amount of root not severed.

We piled soil up against some of the remaining root, and AFAIK it's
still fruiting well, and the apples are *SO* much easier to pick...

So, if you can get the trees out without damaging the roots too much, my
bet is that most, if not all of them will survive transplanting.

--
Rusty