Need to move a tree ...

[RubySlippers]

Am moving house and want to take a tree with us

it is quite small - probably around 5 ft and spindly (some sort of cherry tree IIRC)

shall i dig it up, and put it in a pot or bin bag - how deep do i need to go to get all the roots etc ...

TIA

[itsahardknocklife]

My mum oved a tree when she moved house. She got a really big pot and dug up about 1.5 foot of roots with it.
I would say keep it in the post to get over the move, at least until the autumn. Put it somewhere with similar sun/shade in the new garden.

[throckenholt]

how soon are you moving ?

If you can dig round it now and cut the roots it will then grow new ones close to it - and when you dig it up later it will transplant better.

If you don't have time to do that - dig as big a root ball as you can find - wrap it in hessian sacking if you can, and then in a plastic bag - and make sure you water it. It might be heavy to move.

If you are moving soon - it is quite a good time before it gets growing.

And remember to stake it and give it lots of water for the first year or two.

[RubySlippers]

we are moving in 2 weeks

can i get the hessian from a garden centre? or i could use one of my hessian shopping bags?

[throckenholt]

yes you can probably get the hessian from a garden centre - I am guessing your shopping bag won't be big enough - but maybe if you cut it up you can wrap it round enough of the ball to help.

[SheherazadetheGoat]

we did this with an apple tree. it was all abit hectic. we just dug it up and then it sat in apot for a while and then we shoved it in the ground with LOTS of water. this was around april time.

[RubySlippers]

thanks very much - lots of water and hessian seem to be key