Advice on collecting fruit trees

Anth · Post by **Anth** » August 15th, 2012, 11:43 am

A mate of mine is clearing an old farm that is loaded with peach, apricots, plums , apples and got knows what else. He said I can go for my life and take what ever I would like. ideally I would love to air layer but I don't have time to wait for them to strike. My pony option is to dig.
I have never Dug wild trees before and have no idea how to go about it. Any advice will be greatly appreciated.
Cheers
Anthony

Post by **kcpoole** » August 15th, 2012, 1:35 pm

Essential tools
Pick or Mattock, shovel, Sharp hand saw ( or chainsaw

), Crowbar, etc..

Lope the tops off the trunk and branches, but do not cut too short ( need them long for leverage). This will give you access the to trunk ad root base.

Dig a trunch around the tree as deep as you need ( 12 inches or more), depending on the root mass size, and for enough out from the trunk to get a good amount of roots
this is the hardest thing about digging. Estamating the size hole to dig to ensure you get good root mass. if unsure, err on the generous size as you can always cut back more once out.

Once you have your trench, you can start to undercut the root mass and hopefully get a good compact root ball

The specifics will vary from tree to tree, species, Soil type, Tree size, but the process is similar.

Once out you can cut back the top and roots to whatever you need and when potted up, then the recovery starts.
this thread has some pics of the porcess viewtopic.php?f=9&t=9530

Ken

Anth · Post by **Anth** » August 15th, 2012, 2:00 pm

Thanks Ken,
Once it's out of the ground how fat back can I cut the trunk

Matthew · Post by **Matthew** » August 15th, 2012, 3:51 pm

Anth
Are any of these trees grafted? if so if you cut below the graft youll lose whatever the graft was and just get the rootstock, also some friut trees have unsightly bulging grafts something to think about too. if there still dormant you can cut back to bare trunk butas ken said leave some height for leverage than cut again once out of the ground.

Anth · Post by **Anth** » August 15th, 2012, 4:21 pm

I don't think they are grafted as they have been there for over 30 years I saw them a few weeks ago and they still hadn't blossomed yet they are just starting to show flower buds now. I only have this weekend to collect as of next weekend they will start clearing the block for development and I will only have access to what ever is left.

paddles · Post by **paddles** » August 15th, 2012, 5:15 pm

how are they clearing the block? if they are using a backhoe, or something, you can generally smile nicely, and point out the trees you would like removed, neatly. they then dig it out for you...

paddles · Post by **paddles** » August 15th, 2012, 5:15 pm

how are they clearing the block? if they are using a backhoe, or something, you can generally smile nicely, and point out the trees you would like removed, neatly. they then dig it out for you...

Watto · Post by **Watto** » August 15th, 2012, 8:34 pm

If the opportunity is there, dig as many as you can. And of course if they are to be removed in the near future, now is the ideal time to dig them.

Post by **kcpoole** » August 15th, 2012, 9:48 pm

You should be able to cut back almost as hard as you like. Just beware of any grafts as has been mentioned.

Initial Cuts maybe up to 5-10 times the the diameter of the base depending on the individual tree. Some you may want to cut back to 2 times or maybe some longer especially if there is any low branching or taper that can be used in the final design.

Whatever you do, take lots of photos please

Ken

Anth · Post by **Anth** » August 16th, 2012, 12:16 pm

If all goes well I will be doing it this weekend fingers crossed.

GavinG · Post by **GavinG** » August 16th, 2012, 3:32 pm

Best of luck. Make all large root cuts clean (re-cut with something sharp when you get home) and seal the wounds. Give a good dose of Seasol.

More to the point, spend some time picking out the trunks that branch early - see if you can see a good quickly tapering line of trunk/branch/smaller branch that you can cut to, and make an interesting trunk. Don't just dig stuff because it's thick and old.

And post your photos!

Gavin

Wade · Post by **Wade** » August 17th, 2012, 12:07 am

I would be very surprised if the fruit trees WEREN'T all grafted especially if it was a commercial fruit growing venture, and if they are you should be able to spot the graft union within a foot of the soil surface level.
Secondly, as far as how much rootball mass you need initially, a rough rule of thumb is to dig at a radius of 5 x the diameter of trunk at ground level, and as most of the roots are in the top 600mm of soil that would be your max depth (probably get away with 400mm). Shape the rootball as your digging so that rootball resembles a half round, tapering the rootball down directly underneath the trunk.
Once out of the ground you can see what you've got in the root zone and do the required root pruning in conjunction with the crown pruning. And don't leave it too much longer as now is certainly the time to do it.
Hope this helps a little.
Wade

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