is it possible? i have just bought a house with one slap bang in the middle
of the garden and it blocks out the lovely view. id like to move it further
away from the house and to the left of my garden. how do i go about it?

rpm

With difficulty I would think, mainly due to the weight of the tree and
rootball.

Never moved anything that big, but I imagine the usual rules for moving
trees / shrubs apply. Dig a trench round the tree, sawing through the thick
roots, down to about 2 feet, then start digging under it as far as you can
get, then heave! I would thing you are going to need at least 4 strong
people to lift and move it. As willows have wide-spreading roots you are
going to loose a lot of them, so you will need to prune the tree back hard
otherwise it will die from lack of water, it will need watering with several
gallons a day untill it gets re-established.

Earnest Trawler

"R P McMurphy" wrote in message
news
is it possible? i have just bought a house with one slap bang in the
middle
of the garden and it blocks out the lovely view. id like to move it
further
away from the house and to the left of my garden. how do i go about it?

rpm

The message
from "R P McMurphy" contains
these words:

is it possible? i have just bought a house with one slap bang in the middle
of the garden and it blocks out the lovely view. id like to move it further
away from the house and to the left of my garden. how do i go about it?

Yes, but to be fair to your foundations you should replant it half a
mile away.

--
Rusty http://www.users.zetnet.co.uk/hi-fi/tqt.htm
horrid·squeak snailything zetnet·co·uk exchange d.p. with p to
reply.

If you can dig down and cut back about half the roots for now then re cover
and leave for a few months for them to start throwing new roots, then when
you move the tree you will have some shorter roots ready to take up water,
not all having to recover at the same time.
Move the tree during the winter,

--
David Hill
Abacus nurseries
www.abacus-nurseries.co.uk

In article , R P
McMurphy writes
is it possible? i have just bought a house with one slap bang in the middle
of the garden and it blocks out the lovely view. id like to move it further
away from the house

You *should* remove it completely and throw it away.
These trees are not meant to be planted near houses or human
infrastructure. Their roots seek out water so will throttle your drains
in no time - and they (the roots) can travel vast distances.

--
Jane Ransom in Lancaster.
I won't respond to private emails that are on topic for urg
but if you need to email me for any other reason,
put jandg dot demon dot co dot uk where you see deadspam.com

Rusty Hinge wrote in message ...
The message
from "R P McMurphy" contains
these words:

is it possible? i have just bought a house with one slap bang in the middle
of the garden and it blocks out the lovely view. id like to move it further
away from the house and to the left of my garden. how do i go about it?

Yes, but to be fair to your foundations you should replant it half a
mile away.

Yes: this is not a tree for the smaller garden, or anywhere near
drains. And as Earnest T says, it's a big job. If it has to be done
with manpower, the best way is to get strong straps underneath to lift
it by, as you would a washing machine. But a good man with a JCB can
do it in a few minutes without harming the tree (in the dead of
winter, of course, though willows will stand more abuse than most).

It might cause less grief just to cut it down; and if you aren't by
water it may look a bit out of place anyhow.

Mike.

Recommended minimum planting distance from buildings for willows is forty
metres. Not a typo!

In article , Mike Lyle
writes

Yes: this is not a tree for the smaller garden, or anywhere near
drains. And as Earnest T says, it's a big job. If it has to be done
with manpower, the best way is to get strong straps underneath to lift
it by, as you would a washing machine.

I personally wouldn't do that.
If it has its feet wound round the drains then the drains will come up
when you yank it out (((((

--
Jane Ransom in Lancaster.
I won't respond to private emails that are on topic for urg
but if you need to email me for any other reason,
put jandg dot demon dot co dot uk where you see deadspam.com

"Peter Crosland" wrote in message
...
Recommended minimum planting distance from buildings for willows is forty
metres. Not a typo!

I believe you!

Mine is less than 10 meters from the house, which is why I pollard it at 3
meters every year, I have not had any trouble from it. Having been pollarded
every year for 10 years it has two huge burls on top of the twin trunks and
puts out dozens of thin branches. This time of year it looks like the
classic child's drawing of a tree, a trunk with a big green ball on top! I
rather like it like that.

My weeping willow is in an 80 litre planter.

Earnest Trawler

"Earnest Trawler" wrote in message ...
"Peter Crosland" wrote in message
...
Recommended minimum planting distance from buildings for willows is forty
metres. Not a typo!

I believe you!

Mine is less than 10 meters from the house, which is why I pollard it at 3
meters every year, I have not had any trouble from it. Having been pollarded
every year for 10 years it has two huge burls on top of the twin trunks and
puts out dozens of thin branches. This time of year it looks like the
classic child's drawing of a tree, a trunk with a big green ball on top! I
rather like it like that.

My weeping willow is in an 80 litre planter.

If you think pollarding the top growth will slow down the roots, I do
hope the other think you've got coming isn't too painful!

How long's the weeper been in the planter? (This is genuine interest,
not the prelude to a piece of smart-arsery.)

Mike.

Mine is less than 10 meters from the house, which is why I pollard it at
3
meters every year, I have not had any trouble from it. Having been
pollarded
every year for 10 years it has two huge burls on top of the twin trunks
and
puts out dozens of thin branches. This time of year it looks like the
classic child's drawing of a tree, a trunk with a big green ball on top!
I
rather like it like that.

My weeping willow is in an 80 litre planter.

If you think pollarding the top growth will slow down the roots, I do
hope the other think you've got coming isn't too painful!

How long's the weeper been in the planter? (This is genuine interest,
not the prelude to a piece of smart-arsery.)

Mike.

Time may well prove you correct Mike. It was planted 20 years ago, it's been
no problem so far but as you say, one day it might be. I could also mention
the regularly pruned Acer only 6 meters from the house or the Sycamore at 20
meters which is now 10 meters high and growing fast.

Only got the weeper this May. This is turning out to be a high-maintainance
tree, I have had to lift it and trim the roots once already. It seems to
need 2 gallons of water a day, and as this is going to leech the nutrients
out of the compost very fast I give it a spoonfull of Miracle Gro once a
week, twice the recommended dose. After initial problems getting the
watering and feeding levels right, (my thanks again to Spider for his advice
on the subject), it is doing very well.

I have a very small garden and I love trees, particularly willows - an
unfortunate combination. :-)

Earnest

In article , Earnest Trawler
writes

Only got the weeper this May. This is turning out to be a high-maintainance
tree, I have had to lift it and trim the roots once already. It seems to
need 2 gallons of water a day, and as this is going to leech the nutrients
out of the compost very fast I give it a spoonfull of Miracle Gro once a
week, twice the recommended dose. After initial problems getting the
watering and feeding levels right, (my thanks again to Spider for his advice
on the subject), it is doing very well.

I have a very small garden and I love trees, particularly willows - an
unfortunate combination. :-)

There are, however *lots* of willows of all sizes, right down to a
creeping one that grows only a few inches high. There should be
something there to help you indulge your passion.
--
Kay Easton

Edward's earthworm page:
http://www.scarboro.demon.co.uk/edward/index.htm

Only got the weeper this May. This is turning out to be a
high-maintainance
tree, I have had to lift it and trim the roots once already. It seems to
need 2 gallons of water a day, and as this is going to leech the
nutrients
out of the compost very fast I give it a spoonfull of Miracle Gro once a
week, twice the recommended dose. After initial problems getting the
watering and feeding levels right, (my thanks again to Spider for his
advice
on the subject), it is doing very well.

I have a very small garden and I love trees, particularly willows - an
unfortunate combination. :-)

There are, however *lots* of willows of all sizes, right down to a
creeping one that grows only a few inches high. There should be
something there to help you indulge your passion.
--
Kay Easton

I did not know they came that small, I shall look out for some of those,
thanks.

I have 5 more in small pots, all cuttings from the big one.

Saw a new willow hybrid on a U.S. site advertized as "an ideal hedge plant",
it grows 6 feet per year, that's just rediculous.

Earnest

In article , Earnest Trawler
writes
Mine is less than 10 meters from the house, which is why I pollard it at 3
meters every year,

It's not the top growth that is the problem - tis the root system!!!!

--
Jane Ransom in Lancaster.
I won't respond to private emails that are on topic for urg
but if you need to email me for any other reason,
put jandg dot demon dot co dot uk where you see deadspam.com

"Jane Ransom" wrote in message
...
In article , Earnest Trawler
writes

Mine is less than 10 meters from the house, which is why I pollard it at
3
meters every year,

It's not the top growth that is the problem - tis the root system!!!!

Understood, there was a larger weeper near that spot when I was a child, by
the time it got to 10 years old it cracked the concrete in the back yard and
broke the drain, that had to go. This one has been no problem in the 20
years it has been there so far, so keeping it small seems to be working.

If this one breaks the drain then it will have to go too. A bill to fix the
drain would be annoying but not a disaster, so it is a risk I am willing to
take, the drain would go long before the roots got to the house foundations.

That may sound like a strange attitiude to some, but I am very fond of the
tree!

Earnest