moving apple trees

i have two crab apple trees about 3 or 4 years old.
they were planted too close to my shed and i thought i better move them to deeper suitable ground, before they get much bigger, (than the 2mts that they are now).
i moved the first one about 3 days ago and i have noticed the leaves are a little limp looking.
i today fed them some miracle grow.
i plan to move the next one soon and wonder if i'm maybe doing more harm than good.

 

Hi

Move a tree in July !!!! eeeekkkk

Wait till the Autumn when the leaves have fallen off you have probaly killed it sorry to say but what did you expect .
Why didnt you ask on here first

Sorry to go on... but I hate it when people do crazy stuff like this

Spruce

 

I have to agree with Spruce, except that I understand that we sometimes do these things without realising the potential consequences. It comes from experience and a bit of research, but if it seems like a simple task, its easy to think its not a job that needs any homework doing for.

I strongly suggest that you don't move the other tree until late autumn. Trees really don't like being moved while they are actively growing. For one thing you've probably accidentally cut off maybe 90% of its roots, which is why it is suffering now.

All I can suggest for the tree you've already moved is to keep it very well watered, and expect it to look battered over the next few weeks. It may die, but with a lot of TLC it does have a chance.

 

Yip
Trees should only be moved when dormant ..... late autumn (unless, of course, you want them to die )
It is not clever to try to move them at other times of year, although on occasion some can survive, so don't panic
As for Miracle Grow ..... fertilisers should be considered as an additive to a healthy plant to stimulate ... NOT as a medicine for a sick or struggling tree
For that reason I think adding this is probably a mistake
Who knows .... I could be wrong....... (have been before) ........

 

Now that the deed has been done, the most important thing is watering, don`t feed just ensure the plant is not deprived of water. BUT, do not keep it waterlogged. In future if you need to move a plant in the growing season, remember the following. 1/ Give the plant a good soaking the night before moving, 2/ dig the receiving hole BEFORE lifting the plant. 3/ Fill and let drain the hole twice before planting. 4/ Dig up the plant with as much of the rootball as possible and replant IMMEDIATELY. 5/ Do not let the plant dry out, keep it`s rootball wet but not waterlogged. Finally 6/ DO NOT move during the growing season.

 

Tismehi
OK take heart
I thought "I" was a gardener, for years I have been buying bushes, roses, and bedding plants, moved them and watched them die,
I put it down to just not been a gardener (planting stuff to make the house happy looking and surely you just buy the stuff and stick it in the earth If it does not look right or like you realise it is too close for comfort move it :-)

This year I decided to get a greenhouse before I retired, and admitting I know nothing about greenhouses, decided I had better find someone that does
Thus I found here

Hey there are actually rules and seasons and stuff, to do things, not just when the local shop start selling climbers, or tomato plants

I have only been here three months and realised I had never been a gardener just a "chancer"

Now you are here too, you will learn lots,just read all the discussions NOT only the replies to your question

Welcome you will enjoy it I do

Jack McHammocklashing

 

thanks for the replies.
i'm a complete novice in this department and with hindsight i would have waited till the autumn.
i dug all of the rootball and quite a few of the long root strands too.
i also dug the hole and watered all well - i think my timing is my only mistake - aside from not asking here first.

i'll keep it well watered as i hope to keep it alive.

 

....
Born 3 Months after I joined Gardeners Corner, I soon realised that I MUST be a keen gardener.

by "ziggy"

such a funny sentence...

 

I bet you didn't. The roots are often bigger than the top growth. Just that it is not apparent as most of them are fine hair like things that just come off when you move the tree.

The chunky roots that are obvious are, I believe, comparable to major arteries. They carry all the water and nutrients to the rest of the tree (they also provide the structural support for the tree). Attached to the chunky roots there will be finer roots, and attached to them, finer ones still. The woody roots carry the water and nutrients that the feeder roots gathered. Those feeder roots are the most important ones as far as feeding and watering the tree is concerned, they're the ones that extract water and minerals from the soil (usually with the help of fungi that they form a symbiotic relationship with), and it is those roots that are ripped off when you move the tree.

The woody roots (likened to the main arteries) will sprout new feeder roots, but that takes energy, and with the feeder roots gone, that energy has to come from the tree itself. This, combined with the fact that nothing (or very little) is now feeding the top growth, means that the top growth almost gets sacrificed by the tree while it focuses on using its reserves of energy to produce new feeder roots.

Even if you keep the tree well watered, I'd still expect to see the tree gradually get more poorly looking over the next few weeks. The water you give it won't go to the top growth for a while (or not in sufficient quantities to sustain it), but it does mean that the brand new feeder roots that come off will find water nice and early in their development, hopefully before the tree's energy reserves run out.

Only when enough replacement feeder roots have developed will the tree (hopefully) start to show visible signs of recovery, but to be honest I suspect it will be spring time before you can know either way, as the tree will be starting to shut down anyway for autumn in a couple of months.

Miracle grow (and indeed any fertiliser) contains salts. This is essential to the tree, but the tree does have to work harder to suck them up. The salts have an affinity to water (ie they attract water molecules). Plants suck up water by osmosis. Its a kind of tug of war for water between the roots and the salts in the ground (from the miracle grow). Too much salt in the ground and it will take too much energy to suck the water up, energy your poorly tree needs right now. So best to lay off the fertiliser for now.

Good luck.

 

thanks for the valuable information. every day is a school day.
i think i will leave the second tree where it is and get a new tree for the space that i have already created.

i wonder if this would be the wrong time to do this. maybe i should wait to the autumn.

 

If the new tree is in a pot, it can go in any time. Don't buy a bare root one at this time of year, reputable suppliers wouldn't supply one anyway until autumn/winter.

 

more good advice - thanks.
i'll get a another one this week and move on from here wiser. cheers to all.

 

its now 5 weeks since i made my mistake and as predicted, the tree does look a bit sad.
the top third branches and leaves look ok - but the bottom two thirds looks a bit grim. all the lower leaves are gone and a couple of the branches look lifeless , although the fruit looks fine, (mostly).
i wonder should i prune dead looking branches and/or remove bad looking fruit.
i may well be wasting my time but i will try and rescue my tree from my stupidity, as we have had it since we moved into this new house 9 years ago.

 

Hi Wait till the Autumn (not long to go), you will be able to get a freshly dug barerooted tree if you (google) look at any of the tree sites you can order in advance. make sure you put a stake in and a proper tree tie :yess:
I would leave your transplanted tree alone and see what happens in the spring , ooohhh and to think it has rewarded you with some fruit amazing
Spruce