44 
HOUSE & GARDEN 
deciduous trees are moved while 
in leaf, the ball-of-earth method is 
also necessary; when the leaves 
are off, the roots are carefully 
dissected out of the soil. 
It is customary in nurseries to 
root-prune trees a couple of years 
or so before transplanting in order 
to give a compact root system with 
narrow spread. This is done by 
digging a trench around the tree, 
cutting the exposed roots, and re¬ 
filling the trench. This expensive 
operation is often advocated for 
wild trees, but it has been proven 
that the practice is of advantage 
only with a few species such as 
beech and hornbeam. Equally 
good results can be obtained by se¬ 
curing a wide spread of roots. 
Preparing the Tree 
The method followed in the case 
of deciduous trees is to start 15' or 
20' from the tree, dig a trench and 
make an undercut below the roots. 
The soil is then broken down with 
a picking bar—an iron rod three 
feet long, three-quarters of an inch 
in diameter and tapering to a 
rounded point at one end. This is 
pushed into the bank some 3" from 
the edge, causing the soil to crum¬ 
ble away and leaving the roots un¬ 
injured. A digging fork with 
rounded tines is also used in this 
process. 
The roots as freed are bundled 
and tied up to the trunk out of the 
way while the soil is shoveled 
from beneath them. As the opera¬ 
tion continues the bundles must 
be untied, sorted out and tied up 
again, keeping as many as possible 
unbroken. 
If the trees are to be moved a 
considerable distance or shipped 
each bundle of roots is wrapped 
in wet moss, excelsior, straw or 
In digging out an evergreen the starting place is at the 
edge of a circle marking the outer limit of the spread 
of the crown 
A deciduous tree with its root system separated and 
packed in moss wrappings 
burlap and the central mass is cov¬ 
ered with burlap. These bundles 
containing from fifty to 100 roots 
each are as flexible as whalebone 
and will stand much bending. 
The ball-of-earth method is 
necessary with large evergreens 
such as pine, cedar, arbor vitae, 
yew, hemlock, fir and spruce. Such 
trees retain their leaves through¬ 
out the year and as these are con¬ 
stantly giving off moisture there 
must be no interruption in water 
supply. This ball is very heavy 
and on that account the size of 
evergreens which can be success¬ 
fully moved is considerably less 
than in the case of deciduous trees 
which are leafless in winter, and 
the cost is proportionately greater. 
If, however, deciduous trees are 
to be moved during the growing 
season the ball-of-earth is neces¬ 
sary. The diameter of the ball is 
governed by the spread of 
branches being roughly in the pro¬ 
portion of 1 to 2. Thus an ever¬ 
green with a 6' spread should have 
a ball 3' to 4' in diameter; 8' 
spread, 4' to 5'; 10' spread, 5' to 6'; 
12' spread, 5' to 7'. The depth of 
the ball should be 15" to 20". 
Moving Evergreens 
In digging out an evergreen the 
starting place is at the edge of a 
circle marking the outer limit of 
the spread of the crown. With a 
spading fork the soil is loosened 
and the roots dissected from the 
soil up to the edge of the portion 
to be left for the ball. The loose 
soil is then carefully shoveled out 
and the fibrous roots wrapped 
around against the ball. This is 
then covered with canvas and tied 
up strongly and firmly so that the 
soil will not fall to pieces when 
(Continued on page 54) 
The same tree with roots bent back to facilitate transportation and the more delicate center root system carefully pre¬ 
served in a tarpaulin cover 
