I have four young apple trees, which were planted in spring last year when they were (I think) 1 or 2 years old (they were a present, so not entirely sure). They haven't been entirely happy where they are, and I also want to do something different with that part of the garden. So ... I want to move them.
Ideally I'd like to move them now, but I'm a bit nervous about doing it. I have a feeling that moving them while they're still actively growing will help the roots establish before winter. (But I might just be kidding myself because I want to do it now!) Or should I be patient and wait until they're dormant?
Any thoughts/advice gratefully received!
Not a good idea to do it now, give it another 3 months. just work around them for now
I would not advise moving them now neither..as soon as the leaves drop and the tree goes dormant is ideal time to start with that sort of jobs.
HOWEVER..if you are willing to risk it and getting desperate for the space..dig the trees up with as big root ball as possible and transfer them into BIG planting holes that you have ALREADY lovingly prepared..by mixing couple of handfulls of bonemeal into soil in planting holes and then thoroughly puddling the hole with water. Plunge the tree into the hole and puddle with water again before back filling with soil.
You trees WILL sulk afterwards but if you can keep the soil moist rest of the growing season they should come back to growth next spring.
I would not advise reducing any top growth now (they have had enough stress from move)..but next year you will see if there is any branches that has suffered and those can be removed then.
Young trees are surprisingly tough and given right care there is very good chance that they will make it without major upsets.
Many thanks for the advice! After thinking about it some more I've got slightly cold feet now (not to mention a bad back), so I think I'll work around it and move them at the optimum time.
I would like to support Goodlife's comments about the root ball. Your trees are young and have been recently moved. If you move the trees again this year, at the right time, into a previously prepared position, carefully transferring with a maximum size root ball, they will recover quickly and should resume cropping after only one season of recovery.
What you do between now and November is prepare your new planting positions. How exactly you prepare them depends on your soil and its current state.
For example if you have a compacted clay soil (which is very common), then dig out a hole three feet square and one spade deep, putting the heap of top soil to one side. Turn over the compacted clay subsoil to the full depth of a digging fork, incorporating if you can some rough organic matter such as wood chip, spent hops, even compost if it is spare. Then replace the topsoil and let it all settle naturally until planting time, not walking on it.
Of course if your soil is not a compacted clay your preparation should be different to the above.
Thanks, Russell. Compacted clay is pretty accurate - and it's slightly acidic, thin topsoil. So lots of preparation and TLC needed. With any luck my back will improve soon!