Prepping a maple for harvest?

[GailC]

I found a norway maple I plan on digging but I'd like some advice. Its probably 6" at the base one way and 3" the other. I cut it down to about 18" today with plans to dig next spring but I'm wondering if it would be ok to dig now?
I will probably need to ground layer it, the roots are a bit of a mess and if I could dig it this year, I could do the ground layer next. Any suggestions on this? Should I just take my time and dig it next year or try to save some time and dig it now? We have a few days of cool weather coming, perfect digging temps.

 

[GailC]

Anyone? @0soyoung you have any opinion?

 

[0soyoung]

I dunno. I dig up volunteer seedlings/saplings as I find them when weeding = anytime. But it is an entirely different thing to dig trees that are about a decade old or more.

I think you should do as you said, try it and find out. While it is generally better after the summer solstice than before, your best odds for success are when new growth is not extending. I think now is about one of those times on your area. So, go for it.

I think times of high relative humidity are better. It is really a race against desiccation: must have leaves for photosynthesis: must have photosynthesis to grow roots. Actually, higher temperatures are better as trees grow faster. But being inland one usually means the other. The advantage of spring is that very rapid root growth occurs without photosynthesis - hence, little risk of desiccation digging then.

Doing stupid things like you are suggesting is how we learn about trees. Try another one of not this one.

 

[GailC]

There really isn't any leaves, I only left one small branch on it when I cut it back. There are a ton of buds down low though so I think I'll leave this one till next year.

I'll look for another I can dig now, see how it does. Thanks for the info

 

[jradics]

There really isn't any leaves, I only left one small branch on it when I cut it back. There are a ton of buds down low though so I think I'll leave this one till next year.

I'll look for another I can dig now, see how it does. Thanks for the info

you could root prune. use a shovel or sawzall and pretend to dig it up. cut the roots but leave it in the ground. it should sprout new roots from the ball but not go through the shock of being transplanted. go back next year or even this fall and tree will have better close in roots to make it more likely to enjoy captivity

 

[leatherback]

I would do the whole thing in one go. Just leave a bit extra on the tree against die-back, plant in good substrate.

This worked well..

 

[BobbyLane]

you could root prune. use a shovel or sawzall and pretend to dig it up. cut the roots but leave it in the ground. it should sprout new roots from the ball but not go through the shock of being transplanted. go back next year or even this fall and tree will have better close in roots to make it more likely to enjoy captivity

This was almost 5 years ago
I think one of three things happened, 1 she didnt dig it, 2 she dug it and its dead, or 3 she dug it and hasnt done much with it!

 

[GailC]

This was almost 5 years ago
I think one of three things happened, 1 she didnt dig it, 2 she dug it and its dead, or 3 she dug it and hasnt done much with it!

Actually, it died before I could dig it. Next time, I'll just dig it