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pro320

how to transport big japanese maples

Pro320
9 years ago

I purchased 2 big Japanese Maples at home depot about 20 miles from my house. They are in 45 gallon pots and about 12ft tall with the pot. The guys at home depot offer me to load them on home depot truck and drive them home but IâÂÂm worried the wind will damage the trees.
does anyone have experience in such a moving?
should i go crazy and try to lay them down in a 12ft U-Haul truck or just drive very slow with the trees standing vertically on home depot pickup truck?

Comments (15)

  • jbraun_gw
    9 years ago

    Pro320, I've moved lots of trees that size in the back of a pickup. To keep the wind damage down I like to tarp and wrap the tarp with rope to hold the tarp together. That will also keep mechanical damage on the tree trunk from happening.

    If you try to keep them standing up the wind will lay them down for you. That's when you'd get broken limbs and scars on the trunks.

    You need at least 2 men to do this move.

    By the way, this time of year you don't have to worry about wind damage as most of the leaves are gone anyway.

  • mikebotann
    9 years ago

    Lay them down. I used a tarp with a net over it. The net keeps the tarp from flapping against the trees.
    You can just use a net this time of year. Those leaves are coming off right away anyway.
    Mike

  • akamainegrower
    9 years ago

    mikebotann and jbraun are correct that damage to the leaves is not a concern at this time of year. Japanese maples, however, have thin easily damaged bark. Even 20 miles at high-ish speed can be the equivalent of hurricane force winds. A tarp for protection is easy insurance for a safe move even at this time of year.

  • sam_md
    9 years ago

    I absolutely concur with the previous responses. Lay the trees down and tarp them. I cringe whenever I see homeowners hauling plants uncovered. That's a rookie mistake.

  • ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
    9 years ago

    this time of year.. the leaves are supposed to fall off...

    i am not sure i would even bother with the tarp ... fearing more damage from that than the wind ...

    i would also drive about 25 miles per hour.. down the back roads ..

    what mystifies me.. are the peeps going down the freeway at 70 mph ....

    and i thought you were asking how you were going to haul that thing around the yard ... i always kid the dudes at the nursery.. if they will follow me home.. and get them out of the vehicle ...

    having someone to put them in.. doesnt really address.. how the heck you are going to get them out??? .. thats probably a couple hundred pounds of dead weight at 3 to 4 feet off the ground if you have a back belt.. use it ... ...

    have you figured that part out...

    ken

  • sam_md
    9 years ago

    Pro320,
    You've asked a good question which is seldom addressed on the trees forum. jbraun, mikebotann & akamainegrower sound like the voices of experience and have given you good advice.
    Our local wholesale yard has a sign at the entrance stating that no plant material leaves on open trucks unless tarped.
    Assuming that you are alone when you unload, put a bale of straw down and gently roll the trees off the tailgate onto the straw. One more bit of advice, the bark of maples is very thin and every varmint in the area is attracted to new plants so protect them with something, especially the first winter.

  • Toronado3800 Zone 6 St Louis
    9 years ago

    Guys, what does something like that weigh? I can move MAYBE 300lbs on a dolly. I would hate to have to move it much around my yard w/o appliance straps.

    One thing I see on here are tons of trees with odd decay which to me looks like bruising type damage low on the trunks. These trees always seem to be recent LARGE transplants. Be careful with that thin bark tree.

    Post some pics of how you get these planted.

  • Pro320
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    adding another picture with one tree on truck and one on the driveway.
    it was really worth the trouble after all.
    I paid for the trees $125 each (home depot give 75% discount on all Japanese maples now) and the truck was free due to computer problem.

  • mikebotann
    9 years ago

    One time I was doing a landscape job in a housing development near a freeway and another landscape company was doing a job next door. Those rookies hauled all the plants upright in their truck from the nursery.
    Their customer came over to me while I was working and asked me why my plants didn't have 'transplant shock'. When the trees wilted and damn near died, they told the customer it was 'transplant shock'. I explained why, and he referred me to several customers, rather than the guys who did his job.
    A couple of years later he called me to redesign his yard because of all the basic design mistrakes they made. ;-)
    Mike

  • Pro320
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    I plan to keep them in the pot until late winter.
    At list them won't need to go into transplant shock before the winter.
    Its going to be a big project to plant them

  • mikebotann
    9 years ago

    I should clarify. The neighbor's trees suffered because they were transported down the freeway, upright with their leaves in the wind during the growing season. Your trees shouldn't suffer at all because the leaves were dropping off because it's late Fall. Usually transplant shock happens because of a root issue. Not enough water because a lot of the roots were cut off when it was dug, or not enough water when it was planted. Also, when the new tree is planted in the sun and it was in the shade. Some nurseries mark the orientation so when it's planted the customer has the option of using that info.
    The sooner those maples get in the ground the better.
    They will be fine.
    Mike

  • akamainegrower
    9 years ago

    The easy way to lay down large plants in an open bed truck (or one with a cap that does not have enough height) is to buy some bags of mulch or whatever when you pick up the plant. Use these to prop up the trunk just above the pot so that the top growth is held above the truck bed. Secure it well to prevent rolling and, for an open bed, use a light weight tarp, burlap, landscape fabric, etc. to protect the top. This is much more secure and safer for the plant than transporting it vertically.

  • Toronado3800 Zone 6 St Louis
    9 years ago

    akamaingrower, I see a lot of posts on here from folks who transplanted or had large trees transplanted complaining of weird rotting sections on the trunk a foot to three feet up.

    My pet theory is the bark was wounded during transplant. SOMEDAY when I own a forest of young trees I am going to take a baseball bat to some trunks, mark the trees and inspect in a few years to see how blunt crushing damage manifests itself.

    That is my only concern with propping them up by the trunk. I dislike the idea of putting unnatural pressure on it.

  • akamainegrower
    9 years ago

    toronado3800: Propping a tree up with something soft like bags of mulch is a far cry from bashing the trunk with a baseball bat, so it's a little hard to see what your proposed experiment would show except that blunt force trauma is as bad for trees as it is for people. I suppose bark damage is a possibility if a big tree were carelessly moved, but a conscientious mover would make sure the trunk was padded if necessary and the tree is well secured enough not to roll or bounce.

    As for the rot question, I've never encountered the problem in many years of moving trees and shrubs lain down as I described. There are many possible causes for bark damage that may lead to rot, but transporting them carefully propped in a truck bed does not strike me as one of them.