transplanting cedar saplings

[bee_pipes]

I checked the three forestry related conferences and found some information on transplanting pines. What I've got are cedars. This property was select logged within the last 10 years, and between the logging and the people living here in the past, there are very few cedars of good size. There are, however, just tons of saplings growing in paths, roads and other odd corners. The ones in the way of traffic are at risk, and since there aren't very many trees and lots of open space, I'd like to move them. Sizes range from one to four feet tall.

I saw that it is good to wait till after the first frost to let them go dormant, but what about the tap root? Do cedars have a tap root? I realize this question sounds ridiculous, but out here in middle Tennessee the cedars seem to favor shallow topsoil on rock beds. Do cedars have shallow roots? Would I be better off digging wide and shallow, rather than deep?

The soil here is called chert - hard rocky soil with a red tint to it - you'd think it was clay to see it from a distance.

Any suggestions would be welcome.

Regards,
Pat

[Onthesauk]

Pat,

Not sure if this will help in your area, but I've planted a lot of western red ceder out here in NW Washington.  Have bought them bare root in bundles.  Simply drive in a shovel, pull back a wedge of soil, stick the tree in getting the roots to the bottom and step the soil back in tight.  And as you say, done after first frost and at least a month or two before the end of the winter rains.

If you are transplanting, just try to get a mass or root out when you dig and do it pretty much as above.  Smaller is better.  Our trees are surprisingly resiliant, if they get enough water.

[Cedarman]

ERC does not have a tap root.  I wouldn't be surprized if you have a lot of open area that there aren't several little cedars hiding.  Birds are notorious for spreading cedar all over an area. 

Get a nice ball of dirt with each tree this fall and you should be just fine.

[jkj]

I once transplanted a number of small ERC trees with a bare root method by digging carefully, knocking off most of the dirt, then planting as usual later the same day.  We had over 50% failure the first year.  Don't know if it was just bad luck or bad technique, but next time I'll try to get as much root ball as possible. 

In fact, this fall I plan to move some from the middle of the woods here to where they can get some sun.   I want to try a backhoe method - dig a hole, scoop up a small tree with a big bite and carry it in the bucket to a hole, repeat.  I've never tried this, so it might be a disaster!

JKJ

[PineNut]

Before I got the FEL for my tractor, I used a slip to move dirt. The manual dump didn't work very well so I mounted a hydraulic cylinder on it to control the bucket angle and dumping.  Now I use it frequently to transplant shrubs and small trees. First I dig a hole with it and then dig up the shrub. Haul it to the hole slide it in.  It makes a very good fit in the hold. The root ball is fairly large and stays intact. This is much easier than the shovel work.

[SwampDonkey]

Don't know anything about ERC, but our northern white is easy to transplant and I've never had a dead one. The roots are real shallow and wide spreading and in the spring you can pretty much pull the hole root with the seedling (up to 3 feet in height). You can loosen the soil a bit if the ground is dryer with a shovel. For the real small seedlings up to a foot in height I just take my bare hands and shove them into the moist ground and pull roots and all up. After May I use a shovel as the ground gets firmer. I plant all my trees in spring before shoot elongation. Fall planting isn't very successful up this way.

Also, if those ERC develop like our northern white, you can't hardly tell the cedar from the moss for a couple a years until it gets it's first true leaves. I've heard of DNR dismissing a harvested cedar site as not regenerated, and come back in 5 years and see more than you could count. They are very shade tolarant and will grow up through the thick weeds and willow bushes. Up here, if a site comes back to balm-of-gilead, rest assured cedar will colonize it even though it might seem to take a long time. ;D

[Phorester]

Pat, there's nothing out of the ordinary for transplanting red cedar.  Normal practices as have already been discussed above will suffice.  I'd add that the smaller tree you dig, the better survival you will have since you can get a higher precentage of roots with a smaller tree.

Be careful about digging small cedars out of a field. Most times they have been mowed off for several years and have developed numerous trunks instead of just one.