The Scientific Moving of Big Evergreens 



ONE OF THE WONDERS OF SCIENTIFIC HORTICULTURE— HOW EVERGREENS FIFTY FEET HIGH CAN BE MOVED 

 IN MIDSUMMER AND WILL BE SURE TO LIVE— HINTS ON TRANSPLANTING SMALL TREES FROM THE WOODS 



Written by an experienced tree mover. Photographs by Henry Troth and J. Horace McFarland Co. 



THE old rule used to be : 

 trees while thev an 



' Move deciduous 

 dormant ; move 

 evergreens in May or September"; and it is 

 still a good rule for amateurs who have to do 

 things in the ordinary way. But by scientific 

 methods large evergreens can be moved any 

 month in the year, though it is generally 

 best not to leave the earth frozen on ever- 

 greens, whether large or small, in the winter 



60. The ideal way to transplant an evergreen — 

 the unbroKen ball wrapped in burlap to prevent the air 

 from drying out the feeding roots. Anyone can do this 



months, because, a burst of sunshine or a keen 

 winter wind will dry out the foliage faster 

 than the frozen roots can send the sap to the 

 leaves. The yellow cast of foliage in early 

 spring shows when evergreens are suffering 

 from this cause. On the other hand, if ever- 

 greens are set in warm soil, the roots can 

 begin work at once, and if they have a month 

 in which to prepare for summer drought or 

 winter cold, they stand a good chance. 



I have seen people transplant red cedars 

 five or six feet high from the woods in Novem- 

 ber without preserving a ball of roots, and 

 then wonder why their evergreens died the 

 following May. It is not the big roots that 

 count; it is the little fibrous ones that feed 

 a tree; and it is far more important to pre- 

 serve a big proportion of them than with 

 deciduous trees for two reasons: First, the 

 roots of an evergreen have an enormous leaf 

 surface to support, while a tree that casts its 

 leaves in winter is care-free. Second, if the 

 roots of an evergreen are exposed for a few 

 hours to the air, the resinous sap, which is 

 so abundant in conifers, hardens and does 

 not readily circulate again. 



The scientific mover of large trees takes 

 certain precautions which the general public 

 almost never bother with when transplanting 



evergreens: root pruning, preserving a ball, 

 and bagging. 



"Root pruning," in this sense, refers to a 

 peculiar thing that is done several months 

 before the tree is even taken out of the 

 ground. An accurate circle — say six feet 

 in diameter — is drawn about the tree, and a 

 circular trench is dug with long nursery 

 spades to a depth of perhaps four feet. Of 

 course, all the roots in this trench are 

 carefully preserved. The next step is to 

 shovel carefully under the tree in a horizontal 

 direction and break off all the roots that go 

 down below that point. The trench is then 

 filled and the tree is left for several months 

 to adjust itself to the new condition which 

 is something like that of a potted plant out 

 of doors. This operation can be performed 

 at any time of year. It does not have to be 

 done in the spring or fall rush. 



The necessity of root pruning can only be 

 determined by the examination of experts, 

 based on the soil, moisture, and root habit 

 of the species. The most important thing 

 is the preservation of the fine feeding roots 

 outside of the ball and the cutting smooth of 

 the ends of the larger roots. These ends 

 should not be split or roughly cut. By pre- 

 serving the feeding roots outside the ball 

 several times the amount of support can be 

 given the tree as when nothing but the ball 

 of earth is saved. This is a work requiring 

 skill, patience, and training. It requires 

 special tools and costly machinery to hold 

 and carry the tree and do the least damage to 

 these outer roots. But the results are wonder- 

 ful. Think of moving an evergreen over half a 

 century old, forty feet high, and reestablishing 

 it with a root system sixteen feet in diameter! 

 Think of having shelter from the winter winds 

 right off instead of waiting twenty years. 



Many a New Yorker knows a particular 



tree on the old New England farm where he 

 was born for which he would gladly give a 

 hundred dollars if he could permanently 

 renew his associations with it. It might cost 

 him less than the price of a piano to buy and 

 move two or three such trees to his country 

 home, where he can enjoy this priceless treas- 

 ure for the rest of his life. Nowadays a man 

 of means can drive about the country until 

 he finds the most beautiful old tree he ever 

 saw, and if he can buy it from the owner the 

 chances are ten to one that it can be safely 

 moved to his own home, provided it is pre- 

 pared for the shock by root pruning several 

 months in advance of transplanting time. 



But, aside from these extreme cases, com- 

 pare a tree ten to twenty feet high, that can 

 be moved for say twenty-five dollars, with 

 the ordinary three- or four-foot tree that you 

 buy from the nursery for about three dollars. 

 There are three enormous advantages in 

 favor of the big tree. 



First, these big trees will act at once as 

 windbreaks, providing an outdoor winter 

 playground for the children; protecting all 

 sorts of choice plants that would not grow 

 without it; prolonging the season of fresh 

 vegetables from four to eight weeks; and 

 sometimes saving enough on the coal bill 

 alone to repay their entire cost in five years! 



Second, they screen unsightly objects — 

 barns, outbuildings, service yard, objection- 

 able neighbors, factories and the like — there- 

 by abolishing eyesores and giving privacy. 



Third, they add immeasurably to the beauty 

 of a place. They furnish the only possible 

 way of taking off the raw, new look of a place 

 and of giving the mellowness of old age which 

 is perhaps the most potent element in the 

 charm that English gardens have for us. 



And these three great advantages you 

 have immediately. 



61. All these large trees were successfully moved to their present positions several years ago. Imagine how 

 the place would look without them I (A picturesque old cedar in the foreground) 



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