On 7/23/11 1:57 PM, Billy wrote:
In article ,
Fitty wrote:
Brooklyn1;930594 Wrote:
Fitty wrote:-
-
The height of that wall is unimportant, what's the height of your
sapling, how old is it? If it's less than three years old move it
now. First prepare a new home. Next water your sapling well so it's
easy to dig and so an earth ball will hold together. Dig it up
carefully with a large earth ball and place it on a piece of burlap
and lift the entire thing into a bucket for easy transport. Bring it
to its new home and plant it a little higher than the depth it was
growing. Mix organic matter with the fill soil and fill the hole in
loosely (do not tamp the fill). Water well and tap the sapling to
release any air bubbles. I don't know where you live but I would
fence it to keep the critters from having it for a midnight snack.
Keep it moist but don't drown it, plant roots need to breathe. By
transplanting now it will be well established by winter. Of course
odds are you will be planted before that tree produces nuts.
Thanks for the advice, We live in Yorkshire, UK. I'm going to
transplant it about 20/30ft from where it is now at the top of the
garden, the growing conditions there will be roughly the same as where
it is at the moment but a little more sunnier (not having the cover of
the Monkey Puzzle tree). Not sure about digging it up with a good root
ball though as it's so near the wall that the roots will have by now
grown through the walls backfill but i can only give it a try. It's
got 2 choices really, live or die but i wanted to give it the best
possible means to live and thrive 
As usual, Shelly, a.k.a. Brooklyn1, is full of manure. Sorry about that,
but we have no control over who posts here.
Wait until the tree is dormant (no leaves) before you transplant.
http://www.ehow.com/how_5505090_transplant-walnut-trees.html
Choose the Place to Transplant
€ Look up to make sure the tree will not grow to bump into anything.
Walnut trees grow up to 75 feet tall with a canopy spread (span
of the branches) also of up to 75 feet.
€ Check the soil. Walnuts prefer drier soils that are loamy (sand,
silt and clay-based) and light.
€ Consider your hardiness zone. Most likely, if you are purchasing a
walnut tree from a local nursery or digging it up from your own
backyard, you are in an appropriate zone. But, keep in mind that
black walnuts prefer zones 4 to 9 and English walnuts prefer
zones 5 to 9.
Dig Up the Tree
€ Start your transplanting project in the early spring before the
tree buds or in early fall after it has lost its leaves.
€ Measure the diameter of the trunk. For every inch of diameter of
the trunk make sure the root ball is a foot in diameter. For
example, if the trunk is 1.5 inches in diameter, the root ball
should be 1.5 feet in diameter.
€ Use your shovel to mark out a circle around the tree with the
necessary diameter.
€ Dig out the tree, keeping as much soil in the roots as possible.
Cut roots cleanly with your shovel as necessary.
€ Wrap the roots in damp burlap and store in your wheelbarrow. For
best results, transplant your walnut tree in the same day.
Plant the Tree
€ Dig a hole three times the size of the root ball in the spot you
would like to relocate your tree. For example, a 1.5-foot root
ball requires a hole dug with a 4.5-foot diameter.
€ Use the wheelbarrow to move the tree to its new home.
€ Remove the burlap and insert the tree into the hole.
€ Cover with dirt, adding more dirt as necessary to fill the hole.
I suggest you use a spade instead of a shovel. A shovel is really not
made for digging; it has an awkward angle between the handle and the
blade if you want to thrust the blade vertically into the ground.
For larger trees, some suggest starting now by digging three, evenly
spaced trenches at the edge of the proposed root ball. Each trench is
1/6 of the circumference of the root ball. You dig down to the depth of
the proposed root ball and then fill in with coarse sand. A few months
from now, you then complete the digging of the root ball along the same
circumference. In the meantime, severed roots from the first digging
will have healed and sent some new roots into the sand. Thus, the moved
tree will not have all of its root system traumatized at the same time.
I have never moved a tree, so I don't know the worth of this suggestion.
I have also seen a suggestion that the new planting hole be twice the
diameter of the root ball but not any deeper. By not making the hole
deeper, you don't have to worry about the tree settling, which would
create a ponding area during rains. I have used this suggestion for
planting shrubs and very young trees and have been satisfied with the
results.
--
David E. Ross
Climate: California Mediterranean, see
http://www.rossde.com/garden/climate.html
Gardening diary at http://www.rossde.com/garden/diary