Adding trees to a property can add comfort and visual appeal to your home, and mature trees can increase your property value up to 20 percent. But if you are planning a major landscaping renovation, you may not have decades to wait for stately trees to grow into place. Transplanting trees is more difficult than planting saplings, but it also allows you to take control of your landscaping and enjoy the results immediately. Following these four steps can help ensure that your transplanted trees are moved without incident and have long, productive lives. 

Working With Professionals

Uprooting and transporting trees is difficult and dangerous work, which is why it is so important to seek the services of professional tree movers, such as Caledon Treeland. Not only will you improve the chances of your trees surviving, but you will also avoid the risk and hassle of digging out, handling, and transporting a mature tree. Finding local tree movers with the right equipment and experience can mean all the difference between success and failure. 

Choosing Promising Trees

Not all trees are well suited to being transplanted. You will want to choose the most attractive, viable trees available to make the moving process less stressful. Any specimen that is visibly unhealthy should either be skipped or nursed back to health before being moved. Signs of an unhealthy tree include missing leaves, yellow leaves, pests, slime, mushrooms, and cankers. In this situation, it is always wise to listen to a professional landscaper or arborist's opinion before making your final decision. 

Preparing the Trees for Transplanting

If you have the luxury of time, spend a few months to a year preparing the trees for transplanting. Root pruning, for example, involves trimming back the roots and encouraging them to grow closer to the tree. This will make it easier to save more roots while digging up the tree, giving it a better shot at survival in its new home. Use this time to prepare the soil in the transplant sites, mixing it to closely match the soil the trees are used to. 

Moving the Trees

Once the trees are ready to go, they must be dug up with careful attention being paid to the root ball underneath. As a general rule, for every inch of the tree trunk's diameter, the root ball should have about another foot added to its own diameter. A tree with a 6-inch diameter trunk, for example will need a root ball that is 5 or 6 feet in diameter. During transportation, make sure the tree movers spray the leaves down with water to prevent dehydration, and try to protect them from too much wind exposure.

Once the tree is onsite, it should be replanted facing the same direction as before so that its leaves will continue gathering sunlight with the same efficiency. Water the trees immediately, but wait at least a few months before putting down fertilizer. With any luck and enough skill, the trees will get through their trauma and resume normal growth without issue.