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.

Stan Kochanoff, MCIP. LPP, RCA #427
Licensed ProfessionalPlanner, Registered Consulting and Certified ISA Arborist
Falmouth, Nova Scotia Canada

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.

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