Having someone to brainstorm and discuss yard decisions with…

[SueBee]

I live alone. Four years ago I bought a half acre property in Kansas and moved from California. It’s one of the best decisions I’ve made. The yard was nothing but patchy grass… all mowed down. I’ve worked and continue to work on building an interesting yard with lots of separate spaces, my own private nature center.

Sometimes I get frustrated in not having someone to talk ideas over with. I manage to do the physical labor myself, am sometimes a bit overwhelmed by the sheer volume of it all, but am glad I can still do the work. But, for example, I have 50 new trees growing… some I bought and planted, most are a variety of volunteers. I’ve left all the volunteers to grow…. But there’s one in particular that I’m not sure I like its chosen spot. Now I have transplanted some and they survived, so maybe that’s what I’ll do with this one….And that’s the reason for my post! Anyone else in this boat, whether it’s about your yard or fixing things on the house yourself, or other things?

 

[Muskrat]

I envy you your yard. Welcome! There are several avid gardeners here…

 

[Babs2u]

I have read that the root system is as large as the tree itself so I would only transplant small ones.

 

[Coco]

hello from Wisconsin. My sister lives in Kansas. It sounds like your yard will be so nice with the different areas. Is there a garden center nearby? They would have someone that could talk with you and maybe have some ideas.

 

[bobcat]

I built my house, so I had to do all the landscaping, tree plantings, etc..., so I may be of some help, depending on the specifics.
As for moving the tree, if it is less than 6 ft, there is a good chance it will survive. Since you have to dig out the root ball with the tree, just remember, it's going to be heavy, unless it tiny. Use burlap or something to keep the dirt from falling off the roots during transplanting.

Do it in late fall when the tree is going dormant. When you dig the hole where you want it (Making sure it's sufficiently deep), amend the soil with fir mulch (About half fir mulch and half native soil), wet the hole good before putting the tree in, don't plant it deeper than the root collar, stand back and make sure it's straight, tamp the ground good so no air pockets, and then water again. It also wouldn't hurt to put in a tree stake to secure it to in case any considerable wind. Hopefully the location you put it will get the right amount of sun and drainage.

If it will be in an area where a buck might be able to get to it, you may want to put a cage around it. They like to use small trees to rub the velvet off their horns and it will destroy a small tree. I lost several that way.

 

[JustDave]

When the backhoe guy was excavating for my basement, trees had to be removed even beyond the footprint of the foundation, because the backhoe needs working space. I asked the driver if he could transplant the trees. Now he thought it was a bit odd, but being paid by the hour, he happily did it. With a backhoe, it takes about 5 minutes to transplant a small tree, with nary a human hand being laid on the tree itself.

The driver just scoops the tree up with the hoe, and drives over to another part of the yard where he sets the tree down, swings the hoe end of the back hoe around, scoops out a new hole, swings back to pick up the tree and places it in the hole. He even tamps the earth down around the roots with the bottom of the backhoe's hoe. And the tree now has a new home. 100 percent survival rate too.

 

[Rakaia]

There are recognised techniques for transplanting medium to larger trees. The bigger the tree the more complex the logistics are, this can involve digging a circle around the tree the year before to concentrate a root ball.
Your mileage may vary...

 

[JustDave]

I found not all grass seed mixtures sprout. Last fall, I replanted an area about 30 ft X 30 feet with a grass seed mixture I had never used before, watered it, and maybe 15 seeds sprouted and then never survived. That was in the fall, and the next season the bare spot was overwhelmed with crab grass, which has been a continual fight since I bought the house.

So this fall, I tried again, but I first read the user reviews for the brand of tall fescue that I used, and a huge number of the single star complaints voiced the same problem I had. The overall review done by the manufacturer admitted mixed results, and framed it as poor soil conditions. So then I read reviews of other brands and bought the brand that had the least number of complaints.

I still had leftover seed from last fall so I planted half the patch with the new brand and half with the old, after one week the new grass area was up and running, and the old grass seed area was a no show. Two weeks later, still a no show, while the new brand was going strong an now bordering on lush.

So it wasn't some dumb mistake on my part, and the fact is that one brand of fescue just didn't produce. The only visual difference between the seeds was that the one that didn't work were seeds that were coated with some kind of added something or other that was supposed to make the seeds better (I guess). The ones that worked were in their natural condition. Whether that coating was the cause of the failure or something else, I don't know.

 

[MACKTEXAS]

Sometimes I get frustrated in not having someone to talk ideas over with.

Anyone else in this boat, whether it’s about your yard or fixing things on the house yourself, or other things?

I know very little about trees, so I'm just answering the above parts.

My wife and I always talked over just about everything, including home projects, business, etc., and came to decisions we were both comfortable with. That was one thing I missed the most after she passed away.

This forum can be a good source to get input on specific matters, such as your questions about trees, but I've tried calling people I know, and many times those conversations don't go anywhere, or get sidetracked with other issues and before I know it, 30 minutes have gone by. When that happens, I end up frustrated and still don't have any answers I can use.

I've finally become more comfortable with just researching my ideas via internet sources, or having conversations by phone with professionals, then make my own decisions.