How TO move a Trachycarpus Fortunei from Ebay

[brendan]

About a year and half ago I brought a Trachycarpus fortunei of ebay and ended up having to drag the palm down the road behind my van.Well ive gone and brought a bigger one but this time I was a little more prepared.http://www.hardytropicals.co.uk/forum/v ... =1&t=10106
While looking on ebay I noticed someone selling a chusan palm with no picture. I read the description that said it was dug up,3 and half metres high and needed picking up in the next 24 hours.This was Thursday I asked if I could pick up Saturday morning and they agreed.
Me and a friend set off with a truck and trailor at 6.30 this morning for a 2 hour drive to Sutton Coldfield.When we got there the palm had a good rootball and in total was nearly 5 metres long.This time we were prepared reversed the trailor up to the palm took down the ramps tied a strap to the trunk and used the hoist on the trailor to pull the palm snugly onto the back of the trailor. We then tied the leave up and secured it down ready for the drive home.
When we got back to my house another friend helped pull the palm off the trailor and between the 3 of us we got it into my back garden then we rolled it across my lawn.I then had to dig a hole a metre wide by half a metre deep and with a lot of lifting,pushing and pulling we got the palm in place. I then back filled it with soil,sharp sand grit and mp compost,job done.
tomorrow ive got to build a wooden frame to stop it rocking in the wind even though its quite solid and mulch with bark.If I hadn't won this palm on ebay it was going in the skip anyone want to guess what this 3 metre trunk palm was won for ?

[redsquirrel]

that is a beauty. surely you arent going to say 99p??
cant be that many with facilities and availability at such short notice so could have gone really cheap??

[Springy]

Oh god I'm not sure I want to know but I've got a feeling you are going to make a lot of people very envious!

Nice palm though !!

[Simba]

Thats a cracker, well done Brendan (& pals).....

[Conifers]

OK I'll guess £100 (and over £500 if it had been bought at a nursery)

[Trudytropics]

Cor what a cracker that is, it looks great you lucky thing

I'll guess £75.

[The Codfather]

loving the Trachycarpus and the garden\design......it will look even better with the sum shining on it in the summer......I am well jel...

[kata]

Fantastic view for your neighbours accross..........

Too late now but next spring I best plant mine before it gets too big.....

Well done the lads on planting yours, and you for transporting it.

[jungle jas]

Nice palm! I hope I does well for you. Having bought a few myself off eBay there are some real bargains to be had.

[flounder]

I loved the dragging down the road story, makes me laugh every time I read it
I don't want to believe it was mega cheap, but if going to the tip if not selling, I think Reds was close

[Dave Brown]

No idea about price, but bet it was a mega bargain

I'd get some palmbooster down on the roots, and be prepared to fleece in severe weather this winter as the trauma of being dug out reduces the hardiness.

[brendan]

that is a beauty. surely you arent going to say 99p??
cant be that many with facilities and availability at such short notice so could have gone really cheap??

CORRECT I paid 99p for this palm as nobody bid on it but I saved the builder the price of a skip so he wasn't bothered he just wanted it gone.Without a picture and the short time span it was a risk as i could have got there and all the roots been hacked off.99p for the palm and I topped the truck up with diesel £20.01 so it cost me a grand total of £21.00

[brendan]

No idea about price, but bet it was a mega bargain

I'd get some palmbooster down on the roots, and be prepared to fleece in severe weather this winter as the trauma of being dug out reduces the hardiness.

Would palm booster work at this time of year ? The rootball was better than the picture on the trailor looks there was still lots of roots intact and plenty of soil in the middle.The rootball was about 2 and half foot wide by 2 foot deep so im hoping its got a chance if the winters kind.I was planning on building a wooden pyramid frame round it till next summer to hold it steady in strong winds but its raining non stop so it will probably have to wait till next weekend now.
The winter plan is to put plastic sheeting on the soil around the bottom of the trunk to keep it from getting to wet and then 4 inches of bark on that to try and keep the frost from the roots.If real cold I will get up on the cabin roof tie the leaves up an put a builders bag and builder hessian over the top which will come off as soon as temps rise.The worse this winter the more i will protect it.

[tropical Tom]

Absolutely brilliant, I'm well chuffed for you...cracking story

[greendragon]

I'm not sure how Palms work but they say the best time to plant a tree is during winter so that the roots can establish for the taxing growing season.

Needs clarification from the experts.