How to Transplant your Trees and Shrubs in Winter

Is that pretty little holly next to the front door now threatening to grab your arm as you walk by? This is the best time to transplant trees and shrubs in the winter from one part of your landscape to the other.

Transplanting Trees and Shrubs
Transplanting shrubs and trees can be an overwhelming task. You might be frightened that you could kill your plant in the process. Here’s what you need to know: the plant isn’t doing you any good in its present location. Otherwise, you probably would not be thinking about moving it. 

You aim to have it gone. Though, if you’re going to get rid of it, you may as well use it somewhere else. If it lives, consider it a blessing. 

Let’s come up with some ideas to make your transplant a success.  Here are some tips:

• Water the plant thoroughly 24 -48 hours ahead of the transplant day so it’s good and hydrated.
• If needed, tie the limbs up and out of the way, so you can near the bottom to dig. Because the plant is now dormant, you can trim back bushes or prune out older trunks to make the plant more controllable.
• Dig a big enough rootball that you don’t cut off any feeder roots.  Realizing what size root ball to dig when relocating is the tricky part. 
• When you work your shovel around the plant, and the plant will start to loosen. Once you finally can work your shovel under the rootball, it’s time to get it out of the ground.

The objective is to keep as much of the soil intact with the roots as you can.  Have a piece of plastic, burlap, or tarp ready to put the root ball in. Try to raise the plant out of the ground from the underside instead of pulling by the branches. Have the new hole already dug so that you can put your tree or bush in it quickly.

You should dig a hole at least twice the size of the rootball and around the same depth. When you are replanting, tamp the soil around the rootball as you go along, so you don’t have pockets of air and pockets of water. If you dig and discover that the tree is dead, call a tree and stump removal company to get rid of it correctly.

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