moving a tree ?

[quavers]

got a 80 plus year old yew tree here which has over grown its current location , im thinking about digging around about it with digger and trying to replant ,wife says im wasting my time . any thoughts on it being successful

 

[Still Farming]

Awkward, heavy and dont take well if moved or tap root sheared possibly.

 

[Bury the Trash]

worth a try dont expect too much
but asap
wouldve been better done before allthis rain but anyway watering it through the spring will help
and in the process dont let frost get at the roots

 

[Simon Chiles]

got a 80 plus year old yew tree here which has over grown its current location , im thinking about digging around about it with digger and trying to replant ,wife says im wasting my time . any thoughts on it being successful

Not quite on your scale but I moved two apple and one pear tree so that I could build an extension on my house. My neighbour said that it was the wrong time of year ( spring ) and they would die. I pointed out to him that we’d moved so much soil with them that I didn’t expect the trees noticed they’d been moved. 30 years on and they’re still doing ok.
The answer to your question will undoubtedly depend on how much you dig out with the roots intact.

 

[suffolksmallholder]

If Waddesdon Manor Estate can move a whole woodland then one yew shouldn’t be too difficult. Picking up the root-ball would be the challenge and there are some fantastic ‘tree-spades’ out there ready to be hired.
My father sent many 20 year old ‘standards’ to MK in its early development.
The place where all you see are trees and the odd concrete cow.
Just remember to back-fill the hole with the clod you take out
As ‘beaters’ some of the original holes used to take folk be surprise
SS

 

[miniconnect]

@Treemover used to be regular on here, the man for these things

 

[quavers]

@Treemover

where is he when you need him ! quite enjoyed his posts in the past , dont know if he logs on much now

 

[Bobthebuilder]

Ask the NT

 

[ollie989898]

I'd seek specialist advice but a big enough digger, dig around it, winch it out and move to a new location and it won't know it's happened?

 

[Fendt516profi]

 

[devonboy]

Might be worth giving it a severe pruning when you do it, as yew will regrow readily and it would help moving it, weve done a few by digging around it and using a big telehandler bucket, but yours sounds to be a fair challenge but at least youve given it a chance. yew tree wouldnt have a tap root , lots of shallow roots .

 

[Agri Spec Solicitor]

We have a huge yew tree hundreds of years old in our stackyard and frankly not in a good position. Ever since I was a boy I had in mind we mustn’t kill it. This post made me google yew trees.Here is first thing I found, so be aware!!

Yew trees have historical and cultural significance in various parts of the world, and they are often considered sacred or symbolic. For example, in Celtic and Druidic traditions, yew trees are associated with longevity and rebirth, and cutting them down may be seen as disrespectful or unlucky.

 

[Dry Rot]

Ask an expert. Try arbtalk.com. I'd be surprised if the guys on that forum don't know.

 

[john432]

Yew is deadly poisonous to cattle and sheep, isn't that the reason they were planted in grave yards? Too make sure no one even thought about getting some free grazing...

 

[BrianV]

got a 80 plus year old yew tree here which has over grown its current location , im thinking about digging around about it with digger and trying to replant ,wife says im wasting my time . any thoughts on it being successful

We have done similar successfully even in the spring but it's most important that you put a plastic 25mm alkathene pipe with holes drilled in it right to the bottom of the hole you dig so you can get water right down to the roots in the bottom even now when it's peeing it down.

 

[Exfarmer]

Yew is deadly poisonous to cattle and sheep, isn't that the reason they were planted in grave yards? Too make sure no one even thought about getting some free grazing...

They were planted in graveyards so the animals did not get them. They were very important for making bows so every community needed them

 

[quavers]

We have a huge yew tree hundreds of years old in our stackyard and frankly not in a good position. Ever since I was a boy I had in mind we mustn’t kill it. This post made me google yew trees.Here is first thing I found, so be aware!!

Yew trees have historical and cultural significance in various parts of the world, and they are often considered sacred or symbolic. For example, in Celtic and Druidic traditions, yew trees are associated with longevity and rebirth, and cutting them down may be seen as disrespectful or unlucky.

hense one of the reasons i would rather move it ,

 

[MOG]

I moved a 20 year old apple tree in my orchard last winter as I wanted to enlarge the paddock below it and refence the whole lot. The tree would have been left the wrong side of the fence. I dug a 2 foot deep square trench all round it about 2 foot from the trunk then dug a 4 foot square hole where I wanted it to go. Then I just scooped the tree up by the rootball with the digger, keeping as much soil as possible and tracked it 10 yards up the hill set it down in the new hole. Replaced soil around it and filled in the old hole. I then pruned it hard. The tree bore fruit this autumn and you cannot tell it hasn't always been there.

 

[quavers]

They were planted in graveyards so the animals did not get them. They were very important for making bows so every community needed them

local small grave yard has about a dozen of them , the council had to cut them down to about 6 feet high because they were taking over the yard . another local estate grave yard for the gentry has been taken over by yew trees , the young laird has no interest in the estate or its traditions and has let there grave yard run wild

 

[robs1]

We have five or six oak trees that have self seeded round our yard over the last ten years, a couple are about 15 ft high now some only five ft high, I really must get round to moving them as it won't be long before they are obstructing access to the yard, real shame to just cut them down we have a new fence line to put them, would be a real legacy to create a proper row/ copse of oaks