Large Trachycarpus dig out.

[Yorkshire Kris]

Mine had plenty of roots above soil level. Like Red said, just natural growth.

[karl66]

ok thanks, Darren I think some are ariel root's but the way this one has grown is almost as if the trunk starts with a 135 degree bend & the internal part has pushed itself out the ground if this makes sense?, after id finished work today I had a better look & it looks like you can see the original pot size it came out of, after work tomorrow my son & I are lifting it out, hopefully about an hours work although the rootball you suggest kris may be a bridge two far for us. karl.

[Neil Ziemski]

Ive done some shifting tonight.
You can see a decent size rootball, and its only been in two years from a small 5 litre pot.

[karl66]

Neil I know exactly what you mean re rootball!, ive moved load's , the thing is without proper lifting gear you wont ever get the desired rootball to match a 6ft Trachycarpus!!. karl.

[Neil Ziemski]

Does it help things if you cut back what leaves there are and just keep the spear till it settles????

[cordyman]

Does it help things if you cut back what leaves there are and just keep the spear till it settles????

i'm still undecided on this.

My transplant from Preston sulked for over a year.

I'm undecided as to

more leaves left on = more photosynthesis = more root growth = faster settle in

OR

more leaves left on = more roots needed to support those leaves which arn't now there = go into major root rebuild mode and sulk


??

[karl66]

My own experience with moving/transplanting Trachycarpus's is that there like human's
who have an operation, the fit & healthy recover quicker than the weaker/not in good health people!!. I would personally not cut off any good growth until it start's to establish. karl.

[karl66]

The transplant is now complete!!, it took a good couple of hour's to dig out as half way down was lots of clay, I slightly root pruned it but kept as big a rootball as we could lift. A few pic's of the dig in my customer's garden followed by a shot of it in the van & finally at my place planted in the hole I dug late last night!!, good job we got the roof repairs finished early . karl.

[fieldfest]

wow for £50

[fern Rob]

A T Fortunei at that price was a good buy.

[Delboy]

Bargain! Looks good in that spot too.

[karl66]

Thanks!!, to be fair the last pic does it no justice as the frond's are hiding the trunk, measured it properly just & the trunk is 162cm & total height just under 10ft. what surprised me most was the shallowness of the rootball, it was no more than 16/18 inches deep & that was leaving no root's behind underneath , I carefully rootpruned the sides & got about60/70cm diameter out. It was as dry as a bone otherwise we would not have lifted it, I think even with two strong men this is about the limit without a hoist of some sort. karl.

[cordyman]

Thanks!!, to be fair the last pic does it no justice as the frond's are hiding the trunk, measured it properly just & the trunk is 162cm & total height just under 10ft. what surprised me most was the shallowness of the rootball, it was no more than 16/18 inches deep & that was leaving no root's behind underneath , I carefully rootpruned the sides & got about60/70cm diameter out. It was as dry as a bone otherwise we would not have lifted it, I think even with two strong men this is about the limit without a hoist of some sort. karl.

Unless your names Arlon and you have a van and tow ropes,

what a cracking palm! looks good in that location!

your getting good at the pics in progress lark, i'm impressed

[dino]

Sweet

[karl66]

Would you believe that so far this massive fortunei has not sulked one bit!, I've moved much smaller ones & they've been butter's to get going, this one had about five new spear's that were tightly closed yet three of them are well on there way to opening up , this must be to do with the care taken when digging out & the amount of rootball we lifted. karl.