Not all plants in the garden are equally easy or difficult to transplant or remove. If an apple tree is to be transplanted or removed in the garden, a number of special features must be observed.

An apple tree has shallow and fine roots

At first glance, it may help that an apple tree does not have very deep roots. However, the apple tree is all the more endangered as a shallow root if its fine roots are carelessly cut off. It is precisely the fine hairy roots in the shallow soil around the tree disc that supply the apple tree with much-needed nutrients and moisture. If you cut these fine roots too close to the trunk, the transplanted tree will have a very hard time growing and surviving in the new location.

You don't transplant an old tree

It is generally very difficult to successfully transplant an apple tree that is more than ten or fifteen years old. Therefore, every planting of an apple tree should take place with a careful consideration of the later dimensions. If an older apple tree still has to be moved, the following factors are important for survival:

  • a mild and not too dry time in autumn for transplanting
  • sufficient watering at the new location
  • carefully digging up the roots
  • a vigorous pruning of the tree crown

Due to the shape of the roots, you don't have to dig as deep as you should for digging, but you have to dig all the way wider around the tree trunk. If you wrap a tarpaulin or a blanket around the root ball for further transport, you protect it from the soil crumbling off too much as the degree of drying increases.

Remove a poorly fruiting apple tree

If you want to remove an old apple tree due to poor harvests, you could first try to graft it by copulating a scion. If this doesn't help either, you can leave a piece of trunk about a meter long when cutting down the tree to use this as a power lever when digging out the root ball.

tips and tricks

If a new tree is planned to be planted at the same location as the old tree, the root system must be completely removed when digging up. Otherwise, poor growth of the young seedling may occur.

Category:

Trees