Transplanting Trees

[CCC/rhodesmk]

About five years ago I ordered some "free" trees from the National Arbor Day organization. They have been growing great, but the problem now is that the city is telling me that some of them are blocking the view at an intersection. Poor planning on my part means that now I need to transplant at least one, maybe two of them, to get them away from the intersection.

The largest one I will need to move is a Bradford Pear. It has grown to somewhere between ten and fifteen feet tall. I would like to move it to my back yard, which is mostly very hard clay.

Any suggestions?? Advice??? I've never transplanted a tree before, and really can't afford to hire someone to do this for me.

Any help would be appreciated.

[Tony M]

The root ball of a tree that large would take hours of digging and would weigh hundreds of lbs. This is not a task the typical homeowner can accomplish. Besides, bradford pear is a tree on the not recommended list.
If you want instructions anyway, let us know.
Tony M

[swb_rob]

Where can we find a "Recommended Tree List" and a "Not Recommended Tree List"? I don't have a bradford pear but I think they look nice. I would like to get educated as to why this one is not recommended and any others that are on the not recommended list.

[Tree Dude]

Bradfords are nice trees,especially for its brilliant fall colors. HOWEVER, it has bad angled branches which make it easily break.

As for recommendation for trees, they are on this Tree forum.But remember, good trees actually outweights the number of bad trees

BAD TREES

cottonwood-----best to leave it in the wild where it belongs. they break easily. I saw one last year, half of it crashed down because of wind. and was least 100 feet tall but now about 30 feet
arizona ash-----does not like it here for some reason. I know of one subdivision of arizonas everywhere. one by one every year they died out
hackberry------stupid weed
honey locust----another stupid weed
poplar-----------boring and stupid looking

GOOD TREES

oaks are generally the best of the good trees because of good strength, beauty and royal look, long life:
I 'm going to list some of the oaks

live oak---------------very long-lived majestic evergreen oak that has very wide beautiful branches.Can outlive most trees around it. Height50-70Width 70 -100
shumard red oak----tall handsome tree,one of the best trees for any landscape. fall color is good. longlive H 70-90 W50-65
bur oak---------------very majestic, large oak. has huge leave and acorns. probably has the thickest bark of any oak.lives quite long H60-75 W60-80
chinkapin oak-------handsome oak. H40-70 W 50-65
post oak-------------most common oak here. If you don't mess with them, they would be findH40-60 W40-60
blackjack oak-------grows where post oaks grows
lacey oak------------ small good oak
(the following oaks should only be grown in east texas and southeastern)
southern red oak---majestic big tree. Longlive H70-90 W50-75
willow oak -----------willow-like leaves. Excellent tree. longlive H80-100 W50-60
water oak---------much like willow oak in where they grow H60-80 W50-70
white oak---------most famous oak in the US. Majestic. very longlivetree H60- 80 W60-80
bald cypress------majestic conifer. very longlive tree. fall color.H70-100 W20-50
cedar elm---------good tree. H 50-80 W30-50
pecan--------------State tree. Lives long and big. H 70-90 W70-90
lacebark elm------Excellent introduced tree. H 30-50 W30-50
american persimmon-- good fruiting tree. H40-55 W20-30

and many more to list ,but I need to go to bed. You can start learning about trees by reading HG's tree book. g'night.


Tree Dude

[Tony M]

Nice summary Tree Dude, thank-you.

Bradford Pears are also short lived, suseptible to disease and create such dense shade that the grass dies out causing root exposure and erosion. I've also seen them tip over because the size and weight of the top foliage cannot be supported by a relatively small trunk.

Tony M

[CCC/rhodesmk]

OK, you're telling me this it probably too big of a job for me. Can you recommend someone who in my area (Mansfield) will do the job for me at a reasonable price? I can't afford much, but really don't want to lose the tree. The deadline I'm getting from the city means I've got to do this by this next weekend, July 16 or so.

Thanks!

Michael

[Tree Dude]

CCC/rhodesmk wrote: OK, you're telling me this it probably too big of a job for me. Can you recommend someone who in my area (Mansfield) will do the job for me at a reasonable price? I can't afford much, but really don't want to lose the tree. The deadline I'm getting from the city means I've got to do this by this next weekend, July 16 or so.

Thanks!

Michael

One of the worse places to plant a tree is near an intersection. Always plant trees away from the street as possible for safety reasons.

Tree Dude

[CCC/rhodesmk]

OK. I don't want to sound like I don't appreciate any help you might want to send my way, but I'd like to point out that you are stating the obvious...especially since I addressed the fact that I made a mistake in my original email.

Please, if you can, address my question instead of pointing out my mistakes...I think I've already figured that part out! :D

Thanks in advance for any advice, help, and/or responses to my questions/concerns/problems.

Michael

[Tony M]

I don't know of anyone so I suggest you check out the business directory on this site and start calling.
Tony M

[The Ent]

BTW, really good info up there, Tree Dude.