Hinoki garden tree

[Harewood Hobbyist]

I've been digging up douglas firs, maples and several other trees for about six months with seemingly adequate success. I was using solid composted for needles and drowned a few trees in the winter. I've switched over to half perlite and half diotomaceous earth and the immediate failures have gone way down.

I have just been given the chance to dig out a 30 + hinoki that is about six feet tall and looks good in my opinion. It is planted in a residential lawn.

I am probably going to dig it out by hand and reciprocating saw.

It is so jumbo that I will probably put it in a big wooden box in my yard to recover and then think about pots later.

I'd appreciate thoughts and advice for how to get enough roots out of the ground and how to help this tree recover.

 

[Paradox]

A 6 foot tall hinoki is probably not going to be bonsaiable.
You can not chop them, they do not back bud on old wood.

If you want to plant it in your yard as a yard tree, that would work best. The root ball on that has to be at least 2-3 feet in diameter if not more.
My advice on how to get enough roots out of the ground: Hire a professional tree mover with the right equipment to do the job.
I dont think this is something you can do with 1 or 2 people and expect to be able to move it manually.

The largest tree I ever moved was a scots pine that had a 6 inch trunk and a root ball about 1.5 - 2 feet in diameter and it was very difficult for 2 of us to move.
The people we bought it from used a fork lift to put it into our truck.
When we got it home, we couldnt move it ourselves, it was too heavy. I had to cut the root ball down for 2 of us to manage it and drag it into a hole I dug in the yard for it.

 

[Harewood Hobbyist]

A 6 foot tall hinoki is probably not going to be bonsaiable.

I'm on Malaysian Instagram and a fríend of mine is a cement sculptor for film so I am hopeful for a very large potted tree.

My advice on how to get enough roots out of the ground: Hire a professional tree mover with the right equipment to do the job.

This obvious suggestion did not even occur to me. Thanks

 

[LeonardB]

Photo's would help. I was in the same situation years ago and transfered two 5 foot trees ( over 35 years old each ) to 15 gallon pots with surrounding earth intact. After almost two seasons repotted to 10 gallon nursery pots in much better soil ( originally in clay and sand mix) and let it sit and recover another two growth seasons ( see photo ). Last season did some pruning and structure wiring to start shaping. This spring repot the one that was healthiest to bonsai soil and training pot and is doing very well ( see photo ).