Emergency collection - I have to dig a palmatum TODAY (6/11, sunny & 80* for the next week)

[G-Hoppa]

The site will be bulldozed in a week. Today is my only access. The tree has been damaged (backed into maybe?) and is broken/leaning to the ground, but still fully alive & leafed out & hardened off. The caliper is approx 4"-5", the root spread very nice - worth the effort to dig even though it's the wrong season and there's a good chance it'll die no matter what. Hey - it's free and it'll be ripped out in a week anyway.

What can I do to maximize my chances of keeping it alive?
It was planted a couple years ago, so it's not too long out of a big nursery pot. I'm hoping that means the roots will be somewhat contained in a smaller area.I was thinking I'd chop & seal at the bent/broken point about 8 inches above the nebari, get the biggest rootball I can wrangle into the truck, and get it into warm damp shade. This would remove all branches & leaves, but I'm hoping there's enough energy stored in the fat trunk/base to stay alive and maybe push a few new buds this summer.
Any other thoughts?

 

[leatherback]

Get the plant. Cut to size. TRansport the lump home. Once there, shake out the rootball. Clean all the ripped roots and make clean cuts at the end. Plant in open substrate in a grow box. Place in bright shade. Consider a bag over the tree for the first week or so. Wait for leaves to start popping.

Make sure the roots are not cold and never dry or soaking wet. Fertilize after you see the first real leaves.

 

[moke]

Randy Night has much success with deciduous planted on top of weed barrier and covered in saw dust. Sounds as though he has awesome results this way.

 

[Shibui]

I've root pruned tridents in full growth mode but mostly younger ones as trials. All survive the process. If leaves are left on the tree they almost always turn brown and drop off - tree looks dead - but that seems to be a survival mechanism. As soon as new roots start the tree produces new buds and grows as if there has been no interference.
Humidity should help.
Good luck with your transplanting.

 

[Joe Dupre']

I think you and leatherback are on the right track. Shade and adequate moisture, I think, are the keys to survival. Put it somewhere where you don't have to move it. That keeps the young tender roots growing undisturbed.

 

[G-Hoppa]

Well, I successfully used a combination of your advice, heeling a big undisturbed rootball into a pile of wood chips on top of landscape fabric. I was able to chop the still-living part of the damaged trunk just above a usable low branch that I can use for a new apex in the future. It kept all leaves and then in July started pushing many new shoots. It's been super healthy all summer and fall. My only complaint is that there are no buds that popped lower than that original branch. We'll see what spring brings.

first 6 pics from June. one of new growth in July, last pic today after 5 months of growth here


I'll lift it and wash/prune the roots in spring to replant into an Anderson flat. I plan to let the top just run another season, then prune and clean up the transition at the chop next fall.

 

[small trees]

Why not clean the chop now or next spring instead of wasting a year of growth that could be used to help heal the wound?

 

[G-Hoppa]

Well, we've already had an early hard frost (28*F), with more coming no doubt within the next weeks before winter truly settles in. I think I missed my chance for this fall to avoid possible dieback/damage if I expose living tissue, especially since it'll be such a large area because of the trunk diameter & angle of the cut. If I'd made a move on this back in September I could've done it. As for this next spring, I want to avoid the excessive bleeding that can happen with chopping/pruning. From what I understand, most people prune palmatums in the fall for that reason.

I'd love to give it another season of rampant growth tp really help the transition to the new leader, and also more strongly define the line of callus growth under the bark for me to cut along when I do clean up the chop at the correct angle.

What do you think - should I worry on a tree this size about severe root reduction without reduing the canopy this coming spring?

 

[G-Hoppa]

Just watched a Mirai video that makes me change my plan for the coming year - Ryan Neil suggests waiting till after spring growth hardens off before making big chops. So I'll tackle cleaning up the chop site then rather than wait till the fall. That way I will get at least a partial season of wound healing next year.