ArborTimes Summer 2024

tree adapts to its new location. Appro- priate watering, mulching, and mon- itoring for pests and diseases are all part of this phase. Successful post-care leads to a high survival rate, with top profession- al tree moving companies reporting success rates of 98 to 99%. Holland explained that Big Trees of California has a 98% success rate, and the 2% fail rate is due to issues during the post- care phase. “Say an oak tree that doesn’t like a ton of water is planted in an area where they’re going to put lawn right up to it, which gets a lot of water,” he explains. “Your chance of saturating that root ball too much, especially with a newly transplanted tree, is go- ing kill it. It’s been growing native- ly its whole life, not getting a lot of water, then you put it into a situation where it’s getting too much.”

weights when building the pyramids.”

With the advent of ArborLi ® , Marks says there’s now no weight limit for En- vironmental Design when it comes to moving large trees. “We’ve moved trees close to two mil- lion pounds, including the soil, that are eight feet, nine feet, 10 feet diameter, and we have a 99% survival rate,” he says. Re-Planting and Post-Care Re-planting involves placing the tree in a well-prepared site that mimics the original growing conditions as close- ly as possible. This includes careful handling of the root ball, proper posi- tioning in the ground, and ensuring adequate soil and water to support the tree’s recovery and growth. Following relocation is arguably the most critical step: post-care. During this phase, it’s critical to ensure the

Big Trees of California relocates a homeowner’s tree.

contributes exponentially to Environ- mental Design’s 99% success rate. “We really recommend — and just about demand — that there’s very good sub drainage to the bottom of the root ball and very, very good topsoil,” he ex- plains. “Trees do well if you have good soil, good sub drainage, and the proper

Marks also says that good post-care

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