Could I transplant a 15 foot holly tree?

Manuel

Hi.
I need to build a wall and gate at the entrance to my house. The holly tree in the hedge at my front boundary is in the way. As it is in the roadside hedge, how likely is it that the roots go well in under the road, and as there will be a lot of digging as part of the construction anyway, what are the chances of successfully transplanting it to another location on my site?

I could feasibly start my wall beside the tree, and take out some more of the hedge at the other side of the entrance, but for various reasons I would prefer not to.

Thanks!
/M.

looksee

If you have a digger, and if you can leave the tree till around October there is an outside possibility that it may survive. Hollies are fairly resilient. You will not be able to dig and replant all the roots anyway, so you would lift the tree with a good scoop of rootball and soil, cut off any roots that are going much beyond that and drop it into a ready dug large hole. Add several buckets of water before backfilling the hole. Use some support ropes to keep it steady until it has settled in. I would trim back the newer growth from the branches. No guarantees but it is worth a try if it is a nice tree.

Sonnenblumen

looksee wrote: »

If you have a digger, and if you can leave the tree till around October there is an outside possibility that it may survive. Hollies are fairly resilient. You will not be able to dig and replant all the roots anyway, so you would lift the tree with a good scoop of rootball and soil, cut off any roots that are going much beyond that and drop it into a ready dug large hole. Add several buckets of water before backfilling the hole. Use some support ropes to keep it steady until it has settled in. I would trim back the newer growth from the branches. No guarantees but it is worth a try if it is a nice tree.

Good advice!

Gautama

Unless you've got one of those giant ice cream scoops that a nursery use you are talking about a three year job.
Year one, you'll dig around half the tree, severing the roots. This will be a shock to the tree but its remaining roots will remain intact and the tree will survive. This root pruning will encourage vigorous healthy new roots.
Year two, you'll repeat the above for the other side.
Year three, you'll dig under the tree severing the remaining original roots.
Tilt the tree out, wrap the rootball with a wet hessian bag or blanket.
Move to a fully prepared hole, correct size, organic matter, root grow, etc.
Plenty of TLC...

SILVAMAN

One of the most difficult trees to move successfully unless you manage to get most of the root ball, i.e. roots + soil intact.

looksee

We have recently broken every rule in the book over the last month or so, by taking a number of large shrubs from our garden and planting them in a garden a few miles away. All of them were in full leaf, some were in flower. Several came up bare rooted. Admittedly the weather has been on our side but so far we have not lost any. All have produced evidence of new growth. There is still time to lose them, I realise, but if they had not been moved they would have been dead anyway.

Since May, plants moved included a large lilac, a buddleia, a prostrate hydrangea, a hypericum, a spirea, a solanum alba. The solanum was the first moved, it was cut back from a very vigorous 2 m spread to about a 60cm spread of main branches, with very few leaves, it has now put out loads of new leaves and shoots and is doing great.

vicwatson

Wish someone would do this work in Ireland

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1IV10M1RbEA&app=desktop

looksee

Hey that's very cute! Don't see that truck getting into my back garden though!

vicwatson

looksee wrote: »

Hey that's very cute! Don't see that truck getting into my back garden though!

Yeh fair point but I'd say there'd be plenty of use for that machine in Ireland