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| And pulls a 6' hickory tree out of the ground?
Well, kind of... Back in the fall, I dug around a 6' mockernut hickory tree with the intention of transplanting it will a ball of soil on the roots. It was too heavy. LOL so I left it for the time being. I was walking around today and came across this tree. I saw it had a small buck rub on it and thought "What the heck, let's give a tug.." Out she came as a bare root 6 footer. I scratched the bark and it is still green. The buck rub is pretty minor cosmetic damage. As you can tell from the pics, the soil was pretty soggy and too wet to work well but I didn't really have a choice... I pruned any rough breaks in the roots I found but the main question I have is actually a curled root. When I transplanted it I didn't know whether to prune it off or leave it. Since it was growing that way naturally, I left it alone. What a nice surprise for me! It was an understory tree that would never amount to much where it was, so IF it lives, it will be much better off and hopefully give me some nice fall color. Imageshack uploading broke during the middle of the process but here are some pics of the roots and the "J" hook
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Follow-Up Postings:
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| Chop the curled root off just before the first bend. It won't hurt the tree at all. Or, you could plant it as-is and try to straighten the root out a little at planting. I'd do whichever I thought was easiest in this case. I wish you'd come over here and pull all my Chinese Privet out by the root like that. |
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- Posted by ken_adrian z5 (My Page) on Sat, Jan 21, 12 at 18:57
| i didnt realize you were a hillbilly.. or is everyone from AR?? i hope its planted all ready.. i will yell THAT IS ALL YOU NEED WITH A BARE ROOT DORMANT TREE .. trim off that dwarf side trunk ... i dont see a curled root.. cut it if it bothers you ... below is a pic of a cherry project gotta run. red wings and U/m hockey are both one.. do you know what hockey is in AR??? ken ken |
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| Good find! |
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| I planted it immediately after pulling it out but marked where the curved root is in case I need to excavate and prune it. It would be pretty easy actually. It is hard to tell in the pic, but that curled root is actually not touching soil. That is its natural shape. Brandon I wish I could help! We have privet EVERYWHERE down here, too. It is the one of 4 trees that go gangbusters seeding everywhere here. The others are winged elm, ERC, and callery pear. It was pretty easy to pull out since the roots had been severed about 2 months ago. The soil was just so moist and saturated the remaining roots pulled out without breaking for the most part. Ken... isn't "hockey" the sound the old timers make when they spit in the spittoon? and how bout pics of that pretty cherry now 6 years after transplant? I always want to see how it turned out when you post that pic... Esh_ga, thanks! It was a total surprise today. I have a couple things in the garage I am waiting to plant tomorrow (highs in the mid 60s) because of the cold today (high of 50 maybe?), but apparently that one was ready to be moved despite the cold temps :) Here are the rest of the pics I couldn't include in the OP. They don't really add much...
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- Posted by ken_adrian z5 (My Page) on Sat, Jan 21, 12 at 22:22
| can i try to talk you out of the red mulch... or is this a wifey thingee??? its an anathema to all that is right and good with mother nature... ken |
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| We both like it although I admit in winter it is attention grabbing for the wrong reasons. I get it by the truck(bed) load. The red dyed and undyed are around $15-16 per scoop. 2 scoops to fill up a full size truck bed. I could be talked out of it everywhere besides the flower beds. Before making this topic I was considering getting non dyed mulch the next go round. What I do is fill the truck bed up and dump it out in one of those cheap plastic swimming pools (did I mention I am a hillbilly?). It is easy to move around that way if I have to for some reason. I still have quite a bit of the red mulch left at the moment, though. In my experience with this cheaper stuff, the dye wears off in about two months in the warmer weather, then it blends in very well with the grass. |
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| I like the blue mulch better, but it's harder to find.
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- Posted by ken_adrian z5 (My Page) on Sun, Jan 22, 12 at 10:14
| i have moved a lot of cherry around my yard.. in 2006 .. the date of the pic.. it did not cross my mind to track that particular tree ... after it leafs out.. if it does ... mid to late summer.. trim off the two lower branches.. also.. no mulch within 3 inches of the trunk ... and i presume you planted it at the proper depth for the root flare ... you are responsible for thorough and complete watering this year.. insert finger to 3 inches.. and basically never let it dry .. but its not a schedule thing ... let it NEAR dry in between deep waterings ... and next year.. water only in drought ... should be pretty much free range by year 3 ... nice burn pile there.. you can buy colorant .. which you mix into a spray tank.. to re-jazz you red... but man.. you gotta move toward the natural color of weathered wood.. or grey ... its just normal ... now.. referencing one of your other posts.. what the heck are you fixating on that 18 inch piece of soil next to the sidewalk .... or putting forsythia at the end of the driveway .... when you have all that bare potential in the yard above.. crimminey .. lol ken |
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| its an anathema to all that is right and good with mother nature... Yuuup! My neighbor put red mulch on the Ginkgo I gave him and that stuff is like a lazer beam in my eye. Jon, good find. Hopefully it leafs out nicely for you. Perhaps patience the first year. |
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- Posted by ken_adrian z5 (My Page) on Sun, Jan 22, 12 at 12:27
| My neighbor put red mulch on the Ginkgo I gave him ===>>> and that is a good reason not to give him the taxodium.. lol ... the anathema comment was rather poetic.. dont ya think.... lol .. compared to my other drivel, i suppose ... ken |
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 See more on Know Your Meme
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- Posted by ken_adrian z5 (My Page) on Sun, Jan 22, 12 at 16:53
| do they sell those pink suits in AR???? is that you on the way to work every morning??? ken |
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| You can see how happy the red mulch makes him...just one step outside, and look at him go. (-: |
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| 1 - Not sure 2 - Only on Fridays. That was the suit my dad was wearing when I was born. Isn't it fly? |
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| LOL brandon |
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- Posted by ken_adrian z5 (My Page) on Sun, Jan 22, 12 at 18:28
| surely it wasnt the suit he was wearing when he met mom.. or you probably wouldnt be around.. lol .. ken |
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| Ken, what's wrong with dressing up every once in a while? We don't just go around dressed in our work close all the time down here. |
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- Posted by lou_midlothian_tx z8 DFW Tx (My Page) on Mon, Jan 23, 12 at 16:40
 See more on Know Your Meme |
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| That was some good luck having it loosened up for you, I remember when I dug a few trees from the woods, 2 ft trees with 2 1/2 ft taproots! |
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- Posted by alabamatreehugger 8a/8b south Alabama (My Page) on Wed, Jan 25, 12 at 0:27
| I sure would have expected a hickory to have a longer taproot. A few years ago I tried to transplant a similar size Blackgum tree, I swear that taproot must have been 5ft long. Needless to say, I was unsuccessful. |
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| Yep Bama I was too. I had intentions to transplant 2-3 more hickories but was quickly discouraged when I tried to move this one first. The others were smaller, but even then I didn't even consider it due to how heavy the soil was with the roots. I wasn't even sure how I was going to sever the taproot. Luckily, this one had a pretty puny one near the bottom and I must have severed it with the shovel when I was digging some months ago. |
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- Posted by ken_adrian z5 (My Page) on Wed, Jan 25, 12 at 9:48
| taproots are irrelevant.. presuming all other variables are properly cared for ... ken |
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| Taproots store the bulk of the energy and nutrient reserves in many species. In some species they aren't important, but are critical in others. Arktrees |
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- Posted by ken_adrian z5 (My Page) on Wed, Jan 25, 12 at 13:15
| under that theory.. you would NEVER be able to move any tree of size ... i think we have had this debate before.. and had to agree.. to disagree ... ken |
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| Guess so Ken. For everyone else. The IMPORTANCE OF A TAP ROOT VARIES WITH THE SPECIES. Just like a carrot stores energy and nutrients in a tap root, but potato does the same in a tuber. Some trees can handle standing water, or periods of flood due to changes in root morphology and usage, others can not. Saying a tap root functions the same in all species and servers not function, is like saying that any tree can be planted in standing water because any differences in the trees root system is meaningless. Arktrees |
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- Posted by alabamatreehugger 8a/8b south Alabama (My Page) on Wed, Jan 25, 12 at 13:45
| Some trees are very fussy when the taproot is cut, like the Blackgum I mentioned. Many pines don't like their taproots disturbed either. |
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| Tap roots are never irrelevant in any species. If they didn't serve a purpose, evolution would not allow the species to invest so much energy in building them. Some trees can take the loss of part of a tap root better than others. In some cases, loss of a significant amount of taproot can be difficult for the tree to overcome. |
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| Just a depressing update. The tree has not had bud swell yet while the native hickories have bean in leaf for almost a month now. The stems and buds are still very green, but no signs of 'waking up' yet. Those of you that had failures, what was the failure stage and cause if you can remember (failure to break dormancy, failure to keep watered etc)? John |
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| Video not available, Sam. Do you have another link? |
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| If it's still green, I'd just be patient. One of my Red Oaks is way behind the other two, but is just starting to leaf out almost a month later. But I'm not an expert. I was visiting a friend, and noticed a beautiful old Burr Oak in his backyard. He pointed out a misshapen 2' seedling by his house that he was going to have to dig out when his neck surgery finished healing. Nice guy that I am, I offered to dig it out to see how it responded. The curved trunk and branch died off, and as I went to empty the pot, I saw a 2" shoot growing out. It's now about 4". Interesting that the existing branches died off and a new shoot appeared. Weird. Hopefully you're will start to leaf out soon! vince |
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 jOn, pictured here is a volunteer pecan similar to your hickory. Since it had never been transplanted for sure it will have a tap root. If you cannot open the link search how to hand dig a tree B&B. The burlap and lacing is done while the tree is still in the hole. The tap root is cut afterward. My pecan seedling is leafing out and doing great. http://www.youtube.com/watch?NR=1&v=DtIP-Qj-hMc&feature=endscreen |
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| Taproots are not irrelevant - but they're not magical. Yes, they serve as a 'storehouse' of energy reserves to fuel root regeneration and releafing, so it's desirable to preserve as much as is practical, when digging out a strongly taprooted species - but severing the taproot is not necessarily a death sentence for the tree. |
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