Move redwood seedlings while they are nonetheless dormant | Home & Back garden

Soon after 33 many years crafting a gardening column for the Submit-Dispatch, Chip Tynan is retiring from the Missouri Botanical Back garden. We are rerunning some preferred columns for a few weeks, but the back garden will resume the column quickly. Remember to go on to ship questions to the deal with down below.

Q • My moms and dads are offering me three dawn redwood seedlings that have to be dug from their garden. In moving them, are there any special preparations for planting that I want to do to get ready the soil or the area in which to plant them? How considerably soil ought to be taken up to guarantee the roots are not damaged?

A • Dawn redwood (Metasequoia glyptostroboides) transplants relatively quickly and grows finest in complete sunshine and a deep, moist effectively-drained site that has been amended with organic make a difference and has a a little bit acidic reaction.

If you have a option amongst large and low floor, plant on significant floor to stay clear of “frost pockets” related with low floor wherever cold air tends to pool in winter.

Decline of some roots is inescapable any time you transplant trees. You don’t say how significant your seedlings are. A very good rule of thumb to decide the dimensions of the root ball for tiny trees is to make it at the very least 12 inches large for every single inch, or portion of an inch of trunk diameter, calculated 6 inches earlier mentioned the soil line. The top of the root ball is established by the density of the roots, but for seedlings, the depth of your spade ought to be sufficient.