We are Deb Howe and Toby Wolf — two registered landscape architects who enjoy talking about what we do and what we see. The aim of this site is to continue a long-running conversation we have carried on regarding the design and experience of place, and to keep our ideas moving and our synapses firing.
We live and practice in Massachusetts. Toby has a keen architectural eye (not surprising for someone who studied architecture before moving into landscape architecture), and Deb, also an ISA Certified Arborist, has a particular interest in woody plants.
Copyright 2008-2011 Deborah Howe and Tobias Wolf
Deborah Howe
Toby Wolf
Hello,
I really enjoy reading this blog for some real-life solutions- kudos to both of you for being pioneers in the profession of LA. I am currently a fourth year BLA student at the University of Guelph in Ontario looking into this technique for a studio project. After browsing a few different sources, I am confused about the preferred technique to be used.
From my understanding the bare-root methods are as follows:
1. Air spade, bare-root and use of Hydrogel (LAM magazine)
2. Air spade, bare-root, transplant to MGB (Missouri Gravel Bed) in early spring, transplant any time during growing season to final resting place.
3. Air spade and transplant directly to site (Matthew Roti example)
So essentially, my question pertains to the rationale behind using a MGB if there has been many success stories which eliminate this step? Would larger transplants, such as 10″ caliper and up benefit from a MGB to grow more root hairs before final placement ? Also for the examples of Mathew Roti, is it best to transplant during dormancy since it seems like some of his examples were done while the trees were leafed-out?
I’m sorry to bombard you with questions, I just find this really fascinating and would love to learn more.
Cheers,
Kyle Mendritzki
Hi, Kyle — Air-tool transplanting is cool, isn’t it? It’s not the only way, or necessarily the best way in every circumstance, to transplant trees, but it can work very well, and certainly is making arborists and LAs aware of any number of root issues. Because it’s such a young technique, we’re learning more with every transplant project.
Any of the methods will work; it all depends on the situation which one you choose. Transplanting to a MGB makes sense if the site into which you’re transplanting won’t be ready at the same time you need to blow out the plant; if you can have a receiving site ready at the same time that you excavate the plant from its existing site, then by all means just move the tree to its new location (without the MGB step) and let it settle in and start growing there.
Matt Foti has used a mix of wood chips and sand in the way that a MGB is used, when he has to excavate a tree from his nursery but the proposed site isn’t ready for it yet. That intermediate step can be useful for sustaining the tree and keeping it growing (a good holding medium, be it gravel, wood chips, sand, or whatever combination of porous materials, will create a rooting environment that makes both moisture and oxygen available to the root system, so it can continue to develop a good system of fibrous roots. That step is not necessary if the receiving site is ready; the tree’s existing roots will take off and grow in the new site’s soil just fine without the intermediate step.
Hope this helps; feel free to write again if you have more questions. If you haven’t taken a look at http://www.takingplaceinthetrees.net, you might want to; there’s a lot more information about air-tool transplanting and other root-related work on that site.
No experience with MGB’s yet but we’ve moved several trees in full leaf with air spade direct to new sites without the use of Hydrogel with no apparent transplant shock. The two 4 inch/100 mm (Crimson King Norway Maple and a Silver maple) trees we moved in the fall of 2010 had no apparent interruption in growth and the leaves were large and healthy in colour in the spring of 2011. This year we moved an American Chestnut, a large Specimen Rhododendron and several Hybrid firs in early fall and so far so good. To date, I am impressed with the Air spade technology and we’ll be doing more this year.
Stan Kochanoff, MCIP. LPP, RCA #427
Licensed ProfessionalPlanner, Registered Consulting and Certified ISA Arborist
Falmouth, Nova Scotia Canada
Thank you for your quick response it has been quite helpful!
I have been trying to find some information regarding the transplanting of coniferous trees such as pine. The studio project happens to be in my hometown, Calgary, AB, which is extremely close to the rocky mountains. As an inspiration for this project, I wanted to incorporate a mature coniferous species which gives the site a sense of local context. It seems for the most part the only info i can find is for deciduous species, so i’m wondering if this process isn’t well suited to these species.
Kyle, you might take a look at the posts in Taking Place In The Trees about transplanting trees at the Perkins School, called Air Tool Transplant: Norway Spruce, Parts 1 and 2. One question anyone moving trees may have to answer: are you trying to move trees that have been planted at some point from a nursery, or native trees growing in a forested situation? If the latter is the case, you may run into the issue of having to untangle lots of roots. You might also contact Matt Foti directly to ask him about his experience moving evergreens (find him at his website, http://www.fotitree.com), or email Stan Kochanoff, who just commented in response to your first comment.
Thanks for that suggestion that helped a lot. I was hoping to use native trees that are found in windswept areas which could be similar growing conditions to a blustery downtown area. Not too mention they would have a very unique architectural style! Have you seen the work done my Mikyoung Kim which uses bigger transplants and a sort of scaffolding to secure them during the initial years of transplanting?. Pretty cool! http://www.mikyoungkim.com/#/gardens/bamboo/