Moving Beech

Hi All,

Just got confirmation: A beech stump (10cm across, 30cm tall, full of 1 year regrowth) at work could be mine. However maintenance cannot guarantee it will be there when fall hits.

What are the chances of such a stump surviving a careful transplant now? (If survival is <25% I will take my chances of it not being there in 3 months, and just now cut the main surface roots hoping for some finer roots by fall).

Cheers,

Jelle

leatherback wrote:

What are the chances of such a stump surviving a careful transplant now? (If survival is <25% I will take my chances of it not being there in 3 months, and just now cut the main surface roots hoping for some finer roots by fall).

You'de be surprised, I have managed to lift good sized F. Grandifolia in summer and by leaving all soil intact, providing a shady location, pruning growth back a bit (to ease the burden on the roots) and keeping evenly moist, NOT saturated. You are dealing, no doubt, with European Beech which will restore roots faster then my native Beeches. If its a goner in Fall then I say go for it. Its all in leaving the soil intact and proper aftercare at least for my successes that seems to have been the trick.

-Jay

Yes do it - I agree with Jay.

Carpe diem

There is strong evidence that many trees are perfectly happy ( and some may prefer ) to be disturbed in the middle of summer probably because the initial spring growth surge is over and the tree is resting before a second growth burst late summer/early autumn to build up root reserves for next season's growth spurt.


TimR