Hello,

Here's the story:
I live in Oregon, where for a short period around the holidays, you can obtain up to 5 permits to drive up into the woods and get your Christmas tree. Incidentally, I live in the woods, so it's a short drive, but I digress. Instead of bying a tree in lot and watching it die slowly in our home, we obtain all 5 permits, and dig up some young trees (approx 3-5 feet in height, age unknown). These trees are either noble or douglas firs. One of the tree's is loving cared for in the home until after the holidays, the other four are immediately planted on the property. Needless to say, painstaking care is applied when uprooting and transplanting the trees, but my survival rate is 25% at best in a good year. I'd very much love to watch these trees grow with my kids! Any hints, tips, or advice from somebody familiar with these types of fir trees? We apply some shock treatment, mulch around the base, and still have low success rates. Last year was even stranger, all the trees survived, had beautiful new growth through the spring and summer, and at the end of the summer, promptly dropped every needle except the new growth at the tips, which followed suit about a month later.

Please help!!

Kevin Dunigan

Reply to post by Kevin Dunigan, on January 23, 2000 at 01:07:19:

Try taking smaller trees, and more soil. Plant them in a mound, with wood chips covering it. Goodluck

Reply to post by Kevin Dunigan, on January 23, 2000 at 01:07:19:

I thought you might like to see this information site.
The Silvics site has a quantity of info for many trees, mostly forest trees native to the USA.
http://willow.ncfes.umn.edu/silvics_manual/Volume_1/abies/procera.htm
My experience with moving incense cedars has been that the smaller trees recover better and faster.
Anything larger than three feet tall was more difficult. Try not using the treatment for "shock".
Be sure there is not a drainage problem, and likewise that there is no water stress. Mulch to reduce water loss and moderate soil temp.
If the trees were taken from dense cover, consider shading then from the worst sun exposure for the period of establishment.
Good luck.

Reply to post by Peter Torres, on January 23, 2000 at 01:07:19:

when transplanting established trees it is advisable to sever the roots in stages.
eg. first year, cut half of the roots at a certain distance fromn the tree in three sections (like the shape of a radiation symbol), leaving the remaining sections to be cut the following year, when the tree will be uprooted. This should allow the tree some time to recover from the shock of root pruning.
It may be that the soil at the two locations is very different or not as free draining and this could also reduce survival rates.