Collecting a Hawthorn Hedge

miyagi

My dad has a hedge at the bottom of the garden made up of about 15 hawthorn's. The trunk sizes range from 4 inches to an inch across. He plans to get rid of the hedge but i told him to wait until the winter when they are dormant and i will help him and keep the trees for myself. Is there anything else i should know when moving these trees.

Cheers

Miyagi

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Treebeard

Hi Miyagi,

I am by no means an expert on lifting trees, but I will start the ball rolling...
From what little I do know, I think the most important thing is to get as much soil as possible with the rootball, and try to leave the rootmass as undisturbed as possible. Ideally, you would need to have your growing boxes already made and nearby, so the trees can go straight in them.

Perhaps some more experienced people will be able to expand on this?

regards,

__________________
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treenut

Treebeard,sounds like good advice to me,I have been waiting for some more input on this subject because I have got my eye on some wild growing hawthorns too(more imported feral trees).I dug one up and made a real hack job of it,ended up getting hardly any roots with it at all.It had a 3 inch trunk and all the roots had spread well away from the base.It is just sitting there doing nothing,is it dead who knows?.I hope it is just like the Desert Ash,a similiar tree growing here (also feral),You just dig them up with no roots and they just think so what I'll just grow some more.

ripsgreentree

My advice is going to sound a little harsh on the trees so take it with a grain of salt.

First of all I would have all of the tools that I felt was going to be necessary to deal with fifteen trees. I would also have on site enough bonsai soil to fill fifteen, 15-gallon squat pot or regular fifteen-gallon nursery cans.
Remember that you are going to traumatize these trees when you lift them, So best to do the whole job in the beginning. I would start by reducing the tops by what ever you feel will be excess growth, keeping in mind that you want these to regrow.

Now, one by one, lift the trees and correct the roots. Keep in mind that you want these trees to go into bonsai containers as you correct the roots. Replant into the larger pots in bonsai soil and water in immediately.

In my climate:
If I did this in early winter I would move into a green house and if I did this in early spring I would give shade. This may not pertain to you as I don't know your climate, but I would give serious thought to aftercare as it will often be your measure of success.

Good luck with your collecting.

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ripsgreentree

It requires an open hand to give and to recieve.

Rene_Voortwist

Hi Miyagi,

I collected a few hawthorn's last spring, and here's how I did it. I pruned off a lot of the top growth to compensate for the roots that were going to be cut. Then i cut around the rootball with a sharp spade and tried to lift as much of it as I could. (with the original soil) Packed it all in a plastic bag and took it home. I put half of them straight back into the ground, and the other half in large containers. Didn't fool around with the roots at all. Now I will leave them in peace for at least a year to let them recover from the shock. All of them show good growth so I think I will be able to lift them next spring, remove the old soil and check/correct the roots. Then I will put them in containers with good draining soil and leave them for a year again. If they show good signs of growth again I will begin shaping in the following year. In my case it's a multi year scheme, but I will guess I will be able to keep all of them alive.
Just my two cents... Good luck.

René