Moving a large tree in backyard

We need to move one of the large maples that was planted last summer by Van Metre, or more specifically, the firm they hired.

Any suggestions on who would be a good person/company for us to hire to do that? Digging a huge hole in this firm part of the earth does NOT appeal to our "DIY" side.

If you've had this done, how much did you pay, if you wouldn't mind sharing? I'm not sure what a reasonable fee would be for such work.

Thanks!

 

Is it something that could be done by hand?

If not, you would need a contractor with a tree spade. That could get expensive.

 

When they originally planted them last summer the guys dug the holes by hand.

 

Quick question .. where is this located in the Yard ?? AFAIK, Van Metre was not installing large trees in backyards, and only installing street trees, along with any other cheap landscaping.

If your backyard is along a major street, this may be a county required tree. Any additional information, location of lot, etc, would help.

 

Neil... we're in SW on Highview Trail and my backyard meets up with a bunch of other back yards. It doesn't back to a street. The houses behind me were finished in the summer and VM came in and planted a bunch of trees. A few of them died and we worked with Rebecca to have them replaced.

By "large" I mean 10 - 12 feet, I'd guess. Certainly a few feet taller than I am!

 

So they're less than the diameter required to notify the HOA. So you can move them without much ado. Are you moving them within the property ?

 

Yes. I should have stated that in my original post. We just want to move them from one side of the back yard to the other side. About 30 feet I'd guess.

 

Neilz,

You need to watch yourself with sharse, he could put strychnine in the guacamole. There was salt on the glass, BIG grains of salt, and no telling what he'd do if you told him how he could or couldn't move his tree.

 

I'll keep an eye out ... :hide:

 

:huhsign:

 

Dude, don't you recongize a quote from Office Space when you see it! Especially considering your avatar!

Milton Waddams: [as the waiter walks away] And yes, I won't be leaving a tip, 'cause I could... I could shut this place down. Sir? I'll take my traveler's checks to a competing resort. I could write a letter to your nation's board of tourism and I could have this place condemned. I could put... I could put... strychnine in the guacamole. There was salt on the glass, BIG grains of salt.

 

Now I'm wicked embarrassed.




(I think I was thrown off by the "he" reference... I read it 6 times and it finally occured to me that you were calling ME "he". But I'm a she, which of course you wouldn't have any way of knowing!)

Sorry. Skulking off to my corner now. :doh:

 

Well crum. I just had a guy come quote me $350 to move this tree. Does anyone have any contact info on HLS (I think it is?) that does a bunch of work around here? I googled them but couldn't find them. Maybe, since they're already here most of the time, they'll quote me a better price.

 

HLS only works with commercial accounts.

 

Give Larry of Perfect Plantings a call. He is an independent and comes a t a great price. 540-751-0455

 

If you are having another tree put in, maybe you can get a quote from that company. We bought a tree and had one removed and the hole moved slightly more inside our fenceline (this was in Alexandria) and all I remember is they charged us less because they already had to come out.

It is also possible that if you are replanting the tree - that you could dig it up and relocate it with two people?

We have a Van Metere tree in our front yard that was deadish when they put it in (all these trees on our street are suffering because they sat in the middle of summer on the side of the street for a week+) and will be removing it ourselves before it gets too big.

Question - do we then have to plant another tree to replace the one we remove?

 

Thanks for your thoughts. We are moving it to a different spot in the yard because this one is right where we want to put a play set for the kids.

So we're not replacing it, but we'll end up with the same number of trees in our yard at the end of the day.

(BTW - for anyone interested, I'm getting quotes ranging between $125 and $350 for this.)

 

I would recommend Ray Ditmyer owner of August Landscaping 703-447-4583. I know that he is working on a few projects in SW over the next few months ...his company did a stellar job with our corner lot last year
. Also have you considered looking into a day laborer