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Advice needed to dig up and transplant a Fig Tree
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Posted by mistymorn Brisbane Qld (My Page) on Sat, Feb 26, 05 at 20:21
| This Fig Tree ??? was given to me by a neighbour this time two years ago, he had it in this huge pot and there were roots everywhere over the top of the pot. He told me if I could move it I could have it pot and all. No problem I got a crowbar and a saw and managed to lift the pot just enough to get the saw under it to cut the thick tap root that had grown down in the soil from that hole in the bottom of the pot.
Had to get Hubby to help move it on to the trolley where we took it home and left it on its side so I could get it out of the pot and prune all the broken roots and plant it in the garden it was coming along fine, but I want to move it as next door neighbour's pool has a leak in it, he thinks he has found it but just in case it happens again I though I would put it around the other side of the house where I badly need early morning shade.
It is about 6-7ft (180-210cms) wide and 8-9ft (240-270cms) high. 
What I need to know is how wide do I need to dig that circle around the tree would the width in this Pic below be ok as I dont think we could manage any bigger I have already cut down a little way and severed some roots that were on top
I dont plan on moving it till the middle of Winter,so I though it would be a good idea if I start now and dig a trench around it and cut down a few inches every week so that by Winter all I will have to do is sever any big tap roots underneath or on the side. Any ideas on how much of the branches I will have to prune off to compensate for the root loss as the width of the branches could be nearly four times the width of the root ball. Looking forward to any help I can get.........MM. |
Follow-Up Postings:
RE: Advice needed to dig up and transplant a Fig Tree
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| Gosh, but that looks like a Ficus benjamina to me. Fantastic tree for tubs, but grows *huge* in the ground, esp. in the sub/tropics. Before you think about transplanting, I'd get the tree identified. If it is a F. benjamina, you need to get it out of the ground asap, while you can still move it. Otherwise it will damage your pipes, paths and other structures, as well as those on adjacent properties. Huge tree, huge damage, huge bills. (Of course, you can take cuttings or air layer it, and grow these on for several years as pot plants.) |
RE: Advice needed to dig up and transplant a Fig Tree
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| Thanks for the ID. I have plenty of room for the tree, the house is up on steel stumps bedded in 900mm of concrete, there are no concrete driveways or any other type for that matter. The wide long driveway is roadbase so no problems there. We built this house ourselves five years ago so know where all the pipes are. I did seek advice from a Nursery before planting it, and they seem to think it would be ok on our 3/4 acre block, and seeing the house is not built on a slab and we have no paving I though I would give it a go. As they are a wonderful shade tree and so many are growing around our area......MM. |
RE: Advice needed to dig up and transplant a Fig Tree
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| It's odd that the nursery could advise you without knowing what species of tree it was but, so long as you know it will be *big* ... General rule is that you chop off the canopy in proportion to the amount of roots chopped off: more roots, more off the canopy. Anyway, I doubt that you'll kill it however much or little of its roots and canopy you cut off--might just slow it down a little! |
RE: Advice needed to dig up and transplant a Fig Tree
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| Ok thats what I wanted to know thanks it is a great help, looks like it is going to get a big hair cut, yes I know they grow to 30mts high and very wide, I want to put it on the other side of my block hoping to slow down the three Grevillea robusta trees that the neighbour planted 5ft from the boundary fence three years ago, plus I need the shade. Thanks again....MM. |
RE: Advice needed to dig up and transplant a Fig Tree
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| Fighting fire with fire, eh--just make sure you don't get burnt ;-) Watering the roots and spraying the foliage with fish emulsion helps to minimise any transplant shock. You might consider sharpening a spade and cutting a trench along the boundary fence (or just pushing it to its full depth into the ground every foot or so) to sever any grevillea roots that have extended into your property. Do this every year or two and it should slow them down. (I'm not being mean here; my parents do it to keep their gleditsia in check.) |
RE: Advice needed to dig up and transplant a Fig Tree
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| Got ya I wanted to do that but Hubby being the nice person he is said no, also the ground is too hard and if he cannot do it neither can I, so will just have to wait for the rains then no one will stop me. But I am not going to plant this fig anywhere near the boundary fence and yes I am a great believer in those liquid products and will do that......MM. |
RE: Advice needed to dig up and transplant a Fig Tree
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| You can take out insurance covering damage to neighbour's property from your tree roots. You might like to look into that. I picked up a brochure about it in my solicitor's office. This was after he was ordered to pay for damage to his next door neighbour's foundations which, in turn, had cracked the walls, etc. This was a Federation house with stone and rubble foundations and the repairs were in the vicinity of $140,000. Not that I'm suggesting that this is a likely scenario for you. But a solicitor being screwed over? Makes me smile. |
RE: Advice needed to dig up and transplant a Fig Tree
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Good to know that wombat, yes it would make me smile too. Neighbours house probably 100ft away,
but a big shed with slab base is very close to the fence I will have to look into that. Thanks....MM. |
RE: Advice needed to dig up and transplant a Fig Tree
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| Mistymorn - am dying to know, how did your fig-transplanting experiment turn out? Did it live or die? I'm in a similar situation and would purely love to have your advice. Tnx! MissMuddpuppy |
RE: Advice needed to dig up and transplant a Fig Tree
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| Hi Mudpuddy. The transplanting went very well, actually for all my effort to dig around and take a big root ball would you believe when I had it on its side dragging it on to a old curtain all the soil fell off its was so sandy so I yelled out to hubby to help me lift it to its new hole and he filled in the hole while I held it up then he put three iron stakes in with rope around so it would not sway to far. It has grown to it original size of about 270 cms or 9ft with lots of new growth, I trimmed off about a third of the tree before we moved it. I watered it for about a few weeks after transplanting and since then it has survived of no rain for about four months and now it is getting plenty so it went very well thank you....Cheers..MM.
Transplanted Fig Tree:
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RE: Advice needed to dig up and transplant a Fig Tree
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| If I had known about you moving the ficus when you first asked (wasn't a member then) I could have told you how easy they are. You can also strike large cuttings from them very easily, nearly as easy as frangipani, but don't let them dry out like frangis. I've grown quite a few from large branches about metre or so long and quite thick. Used to do them as standards (lollipop) in pots, it is the quickest and easiest way. Ficus benjamina are beautiful trees when they have plenty of room but I still regularly see standards planted down driveways, on footpaths, etc. Some people don't realise the problems they cause. I have 4 planted but far enough away not to cause any damage. |
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