How to Transplant a Tree or Shrub | Newtown CT Landscaper - Landscape Designer 

It's great when true professionals share their knowledge.

I'm blown away that such a large tree only requires such a small root ball. Fantastic video, thank you so much!

I didn’t know you could cut the roots that much. You saved me so mu toch concern and time when I transplanted a red maple today. I’m in the northeast. My friend had a tree business. He said I should wait until the tree goes dormant with most of what it needs stored up and then transplant it. I did it today after a rainy day. We’ll see how it goes in the spring.

Very informative video even 12 years later! Thanks

Wow - impressive!!! Wonderfully clear narrative/demonstration. What a beautiful job. I especially appreciated the reminder to be cautious of underground cables and to cut all roots CLEANLY. Thank you!!!

And then the client comes home and says "Very nice but could you move it 6 feet to the left?"..... Thanks so much for making vid - cheers.

Thank you so much for taking the time to make this video! I really appreciate it. I'm going to attempt to move a curly willow and I feel much more confident in doing so.

Great video John, we share this often in our dedicated Japanese Maple Group on Facebook, helps a lot of people, thankyou very much

Awesome! I have a bigger tree that I'd like to move about 10' someday and your how-to video should help a lot. Thanks for sharing your time and knowledge with us all.

Awesome job! Now I know one person can dig a tree up,and move it with a machine. Thanks for sharing👍

Thank you for contributing to the RU-vid community with your excellent video & explanation.

Wow, I learned so much from this awesome video....I am planning to move a citrus tree much smaller than this, and now I know I can do it well...you do great work...Thank you so much for this! ....Be safe

nice to see the attention to the root system. very important. Thanks!

Great video and explanation on reasons to do the job the right way. Thanks for the explanation on how far out to begin to dig the root ball. I have always heard to go to the drip line but on some plants and trees that would be unmanageable.

After watched a few of these videos for a project - this bald man is the best, both in terms of explanation as well as actual practical advice for this business. My hats of to you sir!

Best How-To for tree transplanting on RU-vid. Awesome video.

The end convinced me to cut the roots-nice before/after.

Thanks man... big help. I'm trying to bonsai a big magnolia and this gives me confidence that I can actually make it work.

Good video, John! I've been fortunate to successfully transplant several medium and large size bushes (4 Rhododendrons, 3 Azaleas, a Cherry bush, 5+ rose bushes and an 8 foot Apple Tree). It's not easy. I live in the northeast and I only transplant in the spring or early fall. I've tried transplanting during the summer and not very successful. I use a trenching shovel along with a good spade to dig out a bush. I also find that a garden trowel is useful for digging down and under the bush to free deep roots. My preference when digging out a root ball is to save as much root as possible. I search for roots and follow them digging free as much root as I can. If roots run too deep or too wide then I will cut them. I keep as much root as possible and don't trim extended roots or exposed roots as you did. This maybe unnecessary or overkill but it works for me. I similarly follow your method of transplanting. With the transplant, I provide a 2-3 gallon soak with a water soluble fertilizer to act as an anti shock remedy. I water the transplant daily (1.5 - 2 gallons) in hot weather and every other day in cool weather and only when not raining or rain not forecast. I also give the transplant a weekly one gallon water soluble drink until the fall. I then water weekly. This seems to work.

Thank you for this video, now my wife says I have to move the treee :P Seriously, great video. I have 2 Japanese Acer Palmatums just a bit smaller than the tree you were working with. I was looking around for hours and read so many differing opinions, but your video shows the proof. Have a great day!!

Thank you! I had no idea you had to cut the roots! I am moving a favorite smoke tree of mine.

Brilliant video!! you covered everything so well!

Thanks a lot for such a great manual. Cheers from Russia!

A thank u from london england.a big day tmrow .just got keys for new house 4#days ago.it has my dream garden.im gonna transplant a few trees from old one.had no idea how to do till i saw this video

Thanks, great tips. Especially about the weather as our house will be finished in the middle of Melbourne summer and we currently have a tree right where our fence has to go. I guess we might squeeze in there earlier and move the tree. If you've ever watched Melbourne Open tennis you would know the temperatures we deal with.

Excellent video. Just what I needed. keep 'em coming! Thanks!

Really great tree removal demo. Thank you!

Thank you this video has been very helpful especially how to take care of the roots

您是一位富有經驗的植物專家，感恩分享並美好祝福!

great job, great explanation, that for sure helps. thank you!

Thank you for such clear and concise instructions! If only more How To videos got straight to the point like this. Great to know this can be done when tree is in leaf:)

Hi, great video. I just transplanted a profusion crabapple tree after it was in its spot for 5 years. The roots were not as bad, but I had to get my cutters out towards the bottom. Hopefully, after giving it some water, it will bounce back it hasn't bloomed yet. I hope it survives .

Thank you! Incredible video. Very well done.

Great job!!!

That’s some hard work thanks for the video I have some aborvarities I have to move thanks for all the tips and advice 👍🏻 side note I also live in Connecticut

Great job. Thanks for the tips!

Excellent video

Brilliant info no waffle , thank you x

Thanks for the help!

Great video!

Great video- Thank you!

Excellant. Very informative.

Thank you very much for very informative video

You should get double paycheck!! respect!!!! And thank you so much for sharing this great info video...

Excellent video many thanks.

Good video very well explained I have a question for any of you tree experts i have 2 trees in an almost unaccessable area The area is only accesable by a small staircase The trees are both around 3m high But i was wondering how much i can cut of the trees or the branches to still make it survive and grow after a while The trees are a yew and a catalpa If there is anything else i need to know about transplanting the trees please let me know Thanks!

Super job! Do you have any advice for transplanting a Conifer tree. Trunk is around 10mm diameter. Do you know if the root grows downwards or outwards. Any help would be appreciated. John

Just terrific. Thanks for this instructive and information-packed tutorial It is extremely helpful as we are preparing to move a pink dogwood about the same size as this maple 30 feet from its current location.

Thanks for sharing. I have a tree with a 12-14" trunk that, like the person in the video, I'm looking to move about 30'.

The root systems of mature trees vary dramatically in formation and struture from one cultivar to the next . As a result successfull transplant risk amounts vary. For example .. Maple trees have notiouriously dense root sytems . I have transplanted them successfully even after having been forced to hack away 70 percent of the preexisting roots . The opposite is true for a mature Kousa Dogwood , where a manual transplant fail is much more likely.

amazing video! Nice job teach

Important information here thanks for sharing

Great information thank you.

I think the best advice anyone can take from this video is the caution to take whist digging because of power cables ect

EXCELLENT VIDEO!!!!!!!

Fabulous video, thank you so much :)

Great video! Very informative. Just for reference, how much would’ve you charged for moving that tree?

Nice vid - thanks!

One of the methods used in bonsai to keep plants small but also to minimize plant stress during transplant is to cut 1/3 or 2/3s of the foliage a few months before uprooting or taking out of pot. The reasoning is that the foliage should correspond with the amount of roots on the tree and being that so much of the root system is going to be lost during the removal and transplant, you can prepare the tree for this loss by removing the foliage. Has anyone used this method? I want to remove a tree that was planted in a poor location but I won't be able to use a machine to help me. It'll be the combined man power of 4 guys. I figure the smaller I can make the plant above, the more roots I'll be able to cut out below, making it more manageable. Does that sound possible?

Thank you, nice, kind man!

AWESOME VIDEO THANK YOU! :) :) :)

Great job tomorrow i ll going to get the same tree maple japanese i ll do the same like you thankyou 😊👍

John is it possible to move mature trees like a Kousa Dogwood, Japanese maple, and weeping cherry from your old house to your new one? What would an approximate cost be? We are having a difficult time moving and really want to take our trees with us. The bank took our home after my husband passed away, and these were his favorite trees. We’ve been here 28 yrs. The Kousa is the largest. Thank you!

Wonderful 👍

Nice clean job.....Do we apply fertilizer now or wait forr sometime

awesome, yeah you gotta soak those roots, tiny roots are so important

one of the most important points made was apparrently cut short at the 59/1:00 mark.

Hi! Liked your video very much, but i was wondering about how much do they charge to transplant a tree that size, any help would be appreciated, thanks.

I like to transplant some trees in my area. I live in New Mexico and the soil is hard and clay like- kinda like the moon. there's always a drought here, but we water trees with the hose and just a few are surviving. a little bit of green looks so lovely here. but a lot of our trees get a sticky sap and the bark become dry and crispy and they eventually stop budding and growing and crack off. someone said it's the lack of moisture in the ground, some say the soil is poor and lacking in nutrients that causes the trees to fail. I really want our trees to flourish! :) I want to transplant some baby trees further away from our house,

ok thanks alot.ill do that.jus hope it takes again.thanks for ur help

It's winter had snow & it stuck but currently melted. I need to transplant a small pine tree to put a retaining wall in. Will it live ? I wanna get fill dirt than a machine to move stones all at once. & the tree needs to move before spring. It's trunk is smaller than my wrist so much smaller compared to your video

Thank you very much

I’m over here out of breath just looking at him dig.

I think that if you turn the breaker off, you are only turning the power off to your house. That line, is that leaving the house to run some out door electronics or is that going to the house?

noice bideo mate!

How did you make the well? good information

Hi John, this video looks just what I'm looking for. I am planning on transplanting Hemlocks that are approx 30 years old, nice and bushy, for a privacy screen. I know I will need a Bobcat and a lot of water. Is this kind of project feasible? Is there ever a time when a specimen is "too big or too old" to transplant? Thanks...

thanks for the video. if cut the branches off first before transplant, will that be ok?

Great video, with such practical information. Would the principle with the string work for a smaller tree Crimson Queen? And would you always dig a whole foot deep? I am looking to move a well established Crimson Queen.

Thank you for great video, love it

What is you're trying to transplant a low laying wide diameter shrub...how do you get under to dig out the root system?

I bet that was a real hard work.

It’s mid October in New York , would you recommend moving a maple at this time of the year. It’s approximately 8 ft tall, very thin. I planted 3 years ago at a foot tall. Would you say it’s good to go or should I wait for the spring? Also I have a green giant that’s 8 feet tall. I’m guessing this root ball would be about the same size as the one in this video. I want to know if it’s possible to move it with just two guys or is machine a must ?

How do know if the roots are alive or dead. I just transplanted my lilac tree , the leaves were withering not all but thought maybe too much water, it’s just been raining so much. But I would like advice. And thank you for being so thorough. Best helpful. Video. Please advise. Thank you for sharing.

Thanks for that in in my message it says 10mm its actually 100mm diameter do you know how big the root ball will be!

hi buddy im diggin up a acer n dnt have a clue wat im doin.I did wnt to replant it but sum of the roots r damaged....is there any point in replanting if I cnt get roots out without damaging them.thanks.

Thankyou very much

To me I was so surprised about how to I transplanted a tree because I transplanted a tree before I watch this video and my tree is growing like crazy because it gets a lot of plant food and water in the Arizona heat.

Hi John, I am thinking of purchasing a Vermeer S800tx, I wanted to know what you think of these mini loaders, I will mostly be using it for planting and transplanting trees, it has an operating load of 840 pounds and a tipping capacity of 2400 pounds, do you think this machine will be able to maneuver most mid size trees/shrubs around? Let me know, thanks!

Great video! Thanks, I should have watched it for my own knowledge before hiring my landscaping to transplant 3 live oaks about 12 ft and 5 inches in diameter; they did a terrible job and looks like the trees are not gonna make it: they unplantted the trees with very little roots (less than 2 feet wide and 1 foot deep, mostly matured thick roots), dusted out the roots (no original soil from where they were planted), took them about 5 hrs to plant them in the new place, use mixed oil and regular soil, and now water is getting stuck and not draining or moving down, did not make well nor pipe for water not stake to hold it in place.... three days later and trees look sad and leafs drying.... do you think they will make it? Thanks,!

Prep and a plan seemed successful, did that tree live after 12 year ago you moved it?

There was more large root showing. Wouldn't it be beneficial to cut at end of length than shorter?

If I dig out and emerald green how long can this tree be out with dying before replanting it?

hello, i know this an old video, but I wanted to ask if it was possible to move cordyline plants?

I need to move my maple in late autumn. Is pruning the tree before moving it recommended?

how does this apply to much bigger trees, i believe i have a really big plum tree thats not producing plum anymore and i just want to move it.

Hello from Bend,Oregon! I have a 14-foot, leafy tree with about a 3" diameter trunk. I want to transplant it soon to a wooded lot, along with my roses. What kind of professional would I call for these services? Thanks!

WHEWwww!!! You just made my honey-do list A LOT easier -lol. My wife wants me to transplant two trees, and someone said I'd have to dig out the entire root system. One is an oak tree, which is too close to the home, and must be removed, but it's only about 3" - 5" in diameter, so I have a good foot and a half to work with. We lost an oak to a lightening strike a couple of years ago, so rather than cut out and kill the smaller one, it will make a good replacement. Strangely, she also wanted a sycamore, so I cut several small branches from a friend's sycamore, then I bought some rooting hormone, but I don't have that talent, and they didn't make it. However, a couple of years ago we bought a large load of top soil, and out of the small grass covered mound that is left, there is a small sycamore which has sprouted up. I only noticed it a week ago. On her "must have" list was also a mimosa, but they are listed as an invasive species in Florida. Maybe I can talk her into letting me buy one of those shovels. That would have plenty of use on the farm. However, if I was out digging on other peoples land, I think I'd be looking for an old pair of electricians gloves, and take them, with the shovel, to an upholstery shop, and see about getting a tight covering on it -lol. Of course, that may not be possible. Great video, I'm glad that I watched it 'before' I started digging up trees. Thanks...

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Did you not flag the tree for orientation before you removed it? How is that tree? Did it survive?