I'd like to hear from anyone who has actually dug up a
Podocarpus (macrophylus, I think). If anyone has then moved it
north a couple of zones (in January!), I'd be especially
interested in your thoughs.

My daughter has several Podocarps they don't want. They're
about 50 years old. All foundation plantings that went in at
the time (or soon after) their house was built.

The one in question has a flaring base of about 8 inches. It is
enclosed by a square of cement sidewalk roughly 2 feet per side,
and I'm sure the roots go well underneath the walks. It's not
too tall (and I've cut it down even more) so will be about 20
inches tall when I move it.

The soil is fine sand (the house is built on filled-in land over
what once was Boca Ciega Bay in St. Pete Beach, FL.) and
probably will NOT stay on the rootball, though I will soak it
thoroughly before digging.

I'll have a large shallow pot (25x17x6 inches) and soil all
prepared.

It MUST be moved over the Christmas holiday (we'll be down there
babysitting (though one of the "babies" is 14) for 2 weeks while
Lisa and her hubby are spending the holidays in Ireland, so I'll
have lots of time). Then it has to be moved from zone 10 to a
chilly zone 8 in early January. Podocarpus do fine "up" here in
the ground, and I've had another in a pot for several years
which stays outside all winter, but I'm concerned about the
sudden transition from 60s, and even 70s to 40s, and even 20s).
I'm making a quick-and-dirty teepee-shaped, bamboo and plastic
sheeting "greenhouse" for at least its first winter.

Saw, sharp shovel, trowel will be the tools of choice.

I keep reading that Podocarpus hates to have roots cut (though
haven't seen signs of this in the one I have and they root VERY
easily as cuttings. Well, a LOT of roots are gonna be cut here,
both lateral and deep. Bonsai Today #72 shows a Podocarp at
Miami Tropical whose roots were _severely_ cut back, but that's
zone 10 or maybe 11.

My tools are sharp, and clean. Soil is made of fresh materials
and there will be LOTS of fresh, green sphagnum in it to promote
rooting.

Further suggestions? Have I missed something? Bare root (if
soil stays on)???

TNX

Jim Lewis - - Tallahassee, FL - Nature
encourages no looseness, pardons no errors. Ralph Waldo Emerson

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