Taking Place In The Trees

Last week I was lucky enough to see the loading, unloading, and half the planting of an 18″ caliper European beech tree.  The tree had been air-tool excavated, and was being moved over state highways to its new home at the residence of a former client of mine.  Here’s what the tree and its immense root mass looked like:

Giant root mass, 30 feet across, preserved by air excavation. Note the trunk's heavy padding, and pigtailing of the roots.

So that's what a beech's roots look like. This tree had been transplanted with a tree spade about 20 years ago, and it was possible to look under the root plate and see where severed roots had sprouted out.

The 30-foot high tree being lowered onto a specially rigged trailer for transport.

After the tree had been loaded onto the trailer, its roots were covered with burlap and sprayed down for the ride to its new home.

This post is just a teaser; next spring after the tree leafs out I’ll write a post on the  whole air-tool transplant operation, and give all the who’s, what’s, why’s, hows, wheres, and whens.  Stay tuned.