Free Tree

Mother's Day was another very busy day. I started weeding and adding compost to the delphinium bed, but got sick of running into the half dead ornamental plum so I had my son cut it down for me.

Then there was a huge gap that I was not happy with. Seeing as we did not get a tree the day before, I wasn't sure what to do. But as you may have guessed - I am obsessive. I did not want to wait to fill the gap so I started finally digging out an oak that I have been meaning to move for a couple of years. It was a gift from the tree rats, but they planted it too close to the high line. I didn't move it yet because I had no idea where to put it and I heard that oaks were not easy to move successfully. But it was either move it or chop it down, so why not give it a chance to live?

OMG! They are not easy to move at all! I was digging in 85F heat for about an hour and a half! I had fully intended to dig a good three feet down before cutting the roots (oaks have a tap root system - a series of thick roots that grow practically straight down), but the spot it was in was tight and I kept hitting roots. Even though I hacked up the roots more than I wanted to, I did finally get it out and move it to its new home.

Sorry it's so fuzzy, but it was dusk when I took this picture. You can see the remains of the plum between the dogwood and the oak. I was actually happy that the plum died - it was way too close to the dogwood and I didn't want to move it.

This oak so far hasn't seemed to even notice that it got moved. I watered the crap out it yesterday and feed it to give it a boost. I still have not gotten any root stimulator, otherwise I would have used some of that too. I am crossing my fingers and hoping for the best. This is an absolutely lovely tree and I think that it fits the spot nicely. I figure if I can keep it happy for a couple of weeks it might just stand a chance.