Gentle Giants

Housing subdivisions sometimes appear to drop out of the sky overnight. What was once an expanse of field dotted with centenarian trees suddenly morphs into row after row of homes with gleaming white siding and plastic swing sets in the back yards. The field is now a grid of cul-de-sacs; the trees, no longer part of the horizon.

However, as environmental concerns grow throughout the industry and regulations instruct builders to preserve gargantuan trees, contractors see the need to become educated in the process – so detailed it may be called an art – of transporting and installing large trees. In addition, residential clients realize the merit these older trees lend to the aesthetics of their landscapes, as well as to the eventual resale values of their homes. Other customers, building a new addition onto their existing home, find trees in the way and want them moved, said Tadd Russikoff, vice president, Valley Crest Tree Co., San Fernando, Calif. “Homeowners want trees out pretty quickly,” he said. “Sometimes they want it done within a few days.”

Thus, efficiency and speed – in addition to protection of the tree’s root system and life support – must be intermingled to create a successful large tree removal and installation. “Having a good, broad experience and the ability to communicate that to others is important,” said Bryan Williams, president, Worldwide Tree Moving, Oxford, Mich. “There are so many differences in the variety, conditions and environment of the tree in regards to determining the type of care needed – standards and methods need to be demonstrated and taught.”

LOCK & LOAD. Often, clients know they want large trees on their properties, but they do not have specific specimens in mind. Contractors can either consult a nursery that specializes in larger trees or hire individuals to specifically locate the trees, Russikoff explained. “We have scouts that knock on the door of the location of the tree we’re looking for and we see if we can make a deal to remove the tree,” he said.

Many times, commercial and residential construction sites serve as veritable large tree shopping malls, stated Kevin Kenny, landscape operations manager, Marders, Bridgehampton, N.Y. “We take the trees away from people’s houses so the trees are not destroyed, and we save them and put them on someone else’s property,” he said.

Further, when site specifications require construction companies to save a certain percentage of the trees on the site, landscape contractors can come in and make their selections, noted Preston Leyshon, equipment manager, Chapel Valley Landscape Co., Woodbine, Md. “Someimes they have to save so much of the forest to get construction permits, so we go in and select that percentage and dig them up,” he said. In cases where money is no issue, clients can identify a particular tree and have it shipped, or buy the tree themselves and have the contractors handle the technical aspects, Leyshon added.

Even when contractors don’t have an immediate need for several large trees, they can store the extras for future installation jobs, Leyshon reminded. The trees are balled and burlapped and arranged in a grouping with mulch packed around the rootballs and, sometimes, a fence to hold in the material. If the trees will be stored for more than a month, he recommended installing an irrigation system to keep the trees hydrated.

And, if time is not an issue, contractors can root-prune trees weeks or months in advance to ready them for the move, Leyshon added. Then, they can judge how the tree reacts to root severing and if it can survive a move. Finally, consider accessibility when planning a tree transplant to a new site, Williams said. “Understand the limitations of your infrastructure in relation to the size of the tree,” he shared.

“For example, in a big city, if you want a very large tree, you have a lot of wires to go under and bridges to cross.” Leyshon reminded that when using several-ton cranes, check the weight restrictions of the site. “You can put large chunks of oak planking over weak areas, just because the crane weighs so much,” he stated. In addition, contractors need to call local utility companies to determine line locations prior to digging the tree’s rootball and consult local authorities to determine state regulations on permits regarding size, weight and access on bridges and similar structures.

MOVIN’ ON OUT. After finalizing site specifications, contractors need to consider their tree removal options. Leyshon said 4- to 6-man-crews are ideal for the job, depending on tree size and location. This way, one worker can man the backhoe while the others direct the action on the ground, he said.

Russikoff described one removal method of boxing in the sides and rootball of the tree so the tree can be lifted out. If done a few months in advance, the side boxing also can help prepare the tree for the move, he suggested. “If you leave the tree side-boxed for 90 days or so, it stabilizes the roots,” he said. “These trees are pretty old and we’ve already tapped into the root system – we go in there and disturb that system. Every tree goes into shock, so we try to minimize that.”

If time allows, side boxing stabilizes the tree for transport to its new home. While side-boxing trees, don’t forget to provide a water source, Russikoff reminded. “The most important part of moving a tree is remembering you’re going in there and cutting its source of water,” he said. Also, for deciduous trees, side-box during the winter when the tree is in a dormant stage, Russikoff continued. Tree spades also can be used to prepare large trees for a move, Kenny remarked.

This equipment consists of several spade-shaped blades that surround the rootball and cut the roots, forming a triangular rootball. Although a popular method of removing trees, Kenny noted this approach sometimes damages the root structure. “The tree spade doesn’t provide as clean of a cut,” he pointed out. “We use a backhoe and excavate by hand, and then a sharp hand spade to trim off excess roots and make smooth cuts on all the roots. Those roots will inherently generate new growth far superior to the roots that have been snapped or pushed downward.”

The tree spade offers an efficient means of moving trees in a pinch, but it might not be the most effective way, Kenny continued. Instead, he suggested digging the rootball by hand and forming an apple-shaped rootball. This also creates an advantage because the rootball is a different shape than the planting hole, which allows the tree some room to grow. “When you put a tree-spaded tree into a tree-spaded hole, basically the rootball is jammed up against the wall and doesn’t have any new growing medium to go into,” he explained.

Leyshon mentioned a convenient technique when using a crane for the final transport. After drum lacing and burlapping the rootball, attach chain rigging to the crane so it drapes down over the tree to a chain basket secured around the rootball. Then, when moving the tree, lasso cable around the bottom of the rootball to undercut the roots along the bottom of the chain basket. The upward tension helps break the roots and allows for easy lifting, he noted.

After contractors shape the rootball to their liking, they need to consider the tree foliage for the transporting process, Leyshon reminded. Measure the rootball and determine the outside edges, paying close attention to the caliper and the foliage, he listed. “You might want to prune some of that heavy foliage out, especially crossed or cracked branches, because there is less weight involved when you’re not dealing with as much foliage,” he said.

Wrapping the rootball necessitates looking at the moisture content and soil type, Kenny said. If the soil material is dry, he adds a material such as sea kelp to retain moisture during the move. Additionally, Leyshon said exceptionally sandy rootballs might fall apart, so he wraps them with chicken wire or a similar fabric to keep the material compact.

A NEW HOME. When people move to a new home, they encounter several stress factors related to their new environment. Similarly, contractors must remember that trees, as living things, encounter the same acclimation challenges in new locations, said Rex Bastian, Ph.D., vice president of field education and development, The Care of Trees, Wheeling, Ill. “The transplanting process and removal of the roots expose the tree to stress-related problems that come in afterwards,” he stressed. “That risk goes up exponentially as the size of the tree goes up.”

Thus, contractors need to take extra care when repositioning large tree specimens. In particular, because a tree’s root system has been impaired, the plant cannot absorb water as quickly. Kenny suggested installing the root system at a higher grade so the roots can reach the air and avoid drowning when water pools within the root structure. “If the plant root zone is buried too deep, water sits there and there’s no drainage, which rots away the root ball,” he said.

Also, planting the tree at a higher grade protects new root growth from being smothered by the mulch and soil, Kenny stated. Russikoff highlighted the importance of a well-maintained drainage system to stave off some water collection. “We provide a drain system in every tree we relocate to improve water management in the root zone area,” he explained. “We put drainages in almost every tree because of the pooling effect on the bottom.”

However, Bastian insisted on balancing drainage systems with the plant’s moisture requirements, especially with weather changes. “Even if the water content of the soil is perfect, in really hot, dry weather, because of the loss of its root system, the tree cannot draw up enough water,” he said. As a possible solution, Leyshon suggested watering the tree in quadrants or other specified sections, since different parts of the tree will require different amounts of moisture. The water also needs to percolate down to the root system and not just touch the surface.

Since each site and tree type includes its own requirements, simply monitoring the site and checking the moisture content of the soil at different levels – although time-consuming and tedious – can help ensure tree survival. Proper mulching also assists the tree with moisture conservation, Bastian added.

Further, pay attention to the orientation of a tree before the big move, Leyshon targeted. A tree that spends most of its life facing east in a shady area will encounter system shock if transplanted to a sunny, southern-oriented site. “Be sure to tag trees on their north and south orientation, and put the tree relatively back in the orientation where it used to be in regards to the sun,” he said. Otherwise, trees will suffer bark cracking from the expansion and contraction of the bark in new temperatures, or scalding from the full-on sun.

Yet, even when contractors are on top of their tree moving and installation game, educating clients on the challenges associated with moving these plants can be the most frustrating roadblock, Bastian theorized. “It’s really important for the client to be aware of the risks they are taking,” he said. “If they don’t hear about them, they won’t be prepared. Clients don’t understand that you are dealing with biological systems, and these systems play by their own rules.”

Clearly, larger trees pose benefits for clients who desire established properties. However, contractors need to make sure they can ensure proper post-installation maintenance before breaking ground. “It’s asking a tremendous thing to transplant these trees – there are no quick fixes,” Bastian said. “You need to consider what you’re getting into before you do it.”

The author is Assistant Editor – Internet of Lawn & Landscape magazine.