City Trees is a premier publication focused on urban + community forestry. In each issue, you’ll learn how to best manage the trees in your community and more!
Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/41336
scraped a ramp so the backhoe could drive down to the dug-out depth, then they switched the bucket to pallet forks. They used the pallet forks to undercut the tree and break the rootball free; it ended up being about 2 feet (.61 m) tall. I used large fabric binder straps to attach the rootball to the backhoe, which then backed out of the hole and moved it to the prepared hole. The receiving hole was about 12 feet (3.7 m) across to allow for the backhoe movement which also helped with breaking up nearby compaction. I used no amendments but mulched the area heavily and used water bags for about three months, watering deeply every one to two weeks. I did no staking or support of any kind. The tree recovered beautifully and grew better than before. Growth rates and diameter increases were obvious to anyone. I gained some respect from the local nursery people and public works people when the tree survived and did well. The next occasion was to save two Chinese chestnut (Castanea mollissima) trees in the Main Street City Park. They were low branched with poor structure and pro- duced so many painfully spiny seeds that we had to visit the trees every morning and rake them up before the kids got there. (The trees had been donated by some famous local nursery guy so they "had" to be saved.) These were about 12 inches (30.5 cm) caliper, with a canopy 16 foot (4.9 m) wide. We tried the same meth- ods as for the maple, but this soil was almost entirely clay and weighed A LOT. Because the soil was so heavy, and with no other options due to limited funding and timing of the surrounding project, we had to settle for smaller rootballs than we wanted. However, the receiv- ing site was excellent. We staked with 4x4 treated lum- ber and seatbelt type material. These Chinese chestnuts did not have such an easy move (lots of rootball shaking) and had dieback on many branches the first year. The last time I looked at them before I moved they had sparse canopies but were alive and hanging on. Overall this was not worth the time and effort. The trees were undesirable in their original spot and unseen in their receiving spot. —Nick Kuhn, Community Forestry and Communications, Missouri Department of Conservation are cleared for new homes. A Private Property Tree Protection Bylaw is in place to balance the removal of trees to accommodate development with the need to conserve our urban forest. This is done through protect- ing trees where appropriate, replanting trees as neces- sary, and even moving special trees. Surrey, British Columbia, is a rapidly grow- ing City of 475,000. As the City grows, lands A recent case involved moving a willow tree (Salix baby- 20 lonica) that has a DBH of 60 cm (23 in); a single branch measured 40 cm (16 in) DBH. Based on the location of the branch, the tree has an effective DBH of 1 meter (39 in). This fifty-year-old tree had many broken branch- es and looked as if it had never been pruned. The tree was to be relocated from a private development site to a City Off-Leash Dog Park about 300 meters (328 yd) away. It was fortunate that there were no overhead lines involved. The decision to move the tree was made quite quickly in early April, so there was no time for root pruning, which would have delayed the relocation for a year. Based on the very short timeline for the move, all aspects of the project, such as obtaining permission from the land owners, gaining agreement from the Parks Division, lining up the tree moving company, traffic control, and corrective tree pruning had to be organized rapidly. Two weeks before the move, the tree was pruned of dead, diseased, and dying branches. Next, the crown was thinned to allow greater light penetration of the canopy; this pruning work also provided the necessary holes for the crane's hoisting lines. An additional ben- efit of the pruning was the creation of symmetry and balance within the tree. Approximately one week before the move, the root ball was dug. This was done by way of a small excavator and hand work. All roots that had to be trimmed were care- fully cut through and covered with wetted burlap. On the day of the move, a tree climber helped to set up the hoisting lines while the ground crew put a wooden pad in place with beams to attach the lines to. While this work was taking place, a 100-ton crane was posi- tioned. A small road built into the pasture where the tree was located allowed the crane to be positioned as close as possible to the tree. When the lines were attached and made taut, the crane's scale indicated that the tree weighed 23 tons. The initial lift to break the tree free of the ground was approximately 25 tons. The tree was then placed on a wooden pad and the root ball was secured, providing stability for the trip to its new location aboard a very large flatbed truck. Once secured, the truck moved the short distance down the road to the tree's new location. The hole for the tree had been pre-dug and had concrete ballast buried in the soil a few meters out from the tree. The tree was lifted from the flat bed, lowered into the hole, and backfilled with high quality soil. Guy wires were tied between the concrete and the tree and ... voilà! The tree was in its new home. When one of the guy wires snapped, panic set in for a few moments until a new tie could be affixed. This left the tree stable, and the move was considered to be officially complete. City Trees