Advice On Collecting 6" Diameter Pin Oak With Back Hoe

[casey]

Does anybody have advice on digging a large tree like this? I suspect that once I get down in the earth, I'll find a single large tap root and few feeder roots anywhere. I'm in a weird location and don't have access to pumice or even bonsai soil. I do have access to a huge pile of rotten leaf mold. I also have access to a back hoe : ( )!!!!

 

[hemmy]

I googled the interwebs and it told me that it has a shallow, fibrous root system unlike most Oaks.

My 2 cents, would be to remove some soil and inspect the roots. Then it depends on a number of factors like health of tree, root system, site accessibility, and if there is a timeframe on when the tree must be removed. If the rootage is poor you might consider cutting the roots in a radius around the tree to stimulate back rooting.

 

[pweifan]

@casey I have also found that sourcing bonsai soil in NE OH to be a huge pain. My suggestion is to buy Napa Oil Dry 8822, it's diatomaceous earth. Sift the smaller stuff (fines) through a screen and you're left with a great substrate. @sorce and @M. Frary are big proponents and could tell you all the advantages of it. I'll speak for the obvious ones: easy to find, cheap as hell and light to move around.

 

[sorce]

Backhoes and Leaf Mold!

Welcome to Crazy!

Sorce

 

[Gene Deci]

When I was a kid, my Dad wanted to transplant a pin oak from the woods to a spot by the barn. It was probably ten feet high and four or five inches diameter at the base if I remember right. So a friend and I, who knew nothing about what we were doing, went and dug it up, carried it all the way back and put it in the ground. My Dad said we didn't get hardly enough roots and it would never make it. It did, but it was really slow growing for a few years. Lessen is, they are pretty tough.

 

[Leo in N E Illinois]

My guess, experience, collect before leaves are out, about now for northern Ohio. This is definitely the best time of year for majority of deciduous trees. If leaves are already out, wait, you could wait until after summer solstice, when much of the new foliage has already hardened off and is making carbs for the tree. For zone 6 and cooler weather locations, from summer solstice thru to about autumnal equinox is the second time you can collect, with a lower success rate but still better than 50:50 chance of survival. Prune branches short enough to get rid of tender growth that hasn't hardened off yet when you collect. This summer collecting won't work for those with hot, summers, and hot and dry, no humidity areas collecting in summer is probably doomed.

For most areas collecting in autumn through winter until ground freezes is also not the worst time, not as good as very early spring, but not the worst.

So really, the main Don't Collect season is when the tree is loaded with tender new growth. Also Don't collect when days ahead will be over 90 F, especially in the desert SW. The rest of the year, it is possible to collect with varying degrees of success.