One (below, left): This peach has been assigned a new home
within a bed.
Two: (below, right) It will be better off in the bed, no
longer in competition with grass and endangered by mowing
tools.
Three: No sod allowed in the new location. So strip the sod,
find the roots, cut all around, undercut and lift.
Being able to visualize the root system is a help when
digging to transplant. If you can locate an expendable
seedling of the same species, dig it and look at the roots. The
older plant's root system will have the same proportions.
Four: Once we've lifted the tree we go dig its new planting
hole exactly that deep and wide.
So much soil is heavy. A ball cart can handle it. Tip the ball
back, maneuver the cart's cradle beneath it, then roll it to its
new site. Lacking the cart, work a tarpaulin or sturdy old rug
beneath the ball and then sling or slide it along.
Five: In the new hole, spread wide the bared root tips and
cover them. Push extra soil from outside the hole to form a
watering levee around the root zone. Use a bucket or running hose
to water the tree, letting water pool up to the rim of the levee,
then soak into the root zone.
Seven: Several days later, the tree's oldest leaves show
some fall color. The tree's reduced root system may be unable to
provide water to all the leaves and the tree's 'playing it smart',
ready to drop those in order to keep all its younger, most
important foliage. However, the leaf loss is not yet a certainty.
With regular water and given shade during the hottest part of each
day, it may yet come through with zero foliage lost. Such
challenges keep the individual gardener going!
