Hi all! Conventional wisdom says it is ill-advised to try moving/transplanting pawpaws after their first few seasons. I’ve got two 10 y/o trees, about 8ft tall each & producing consistent delicious fruit each year, on a site that is about to be bulldozed for development (long story). They were both planted in large wooden raised container-style beds (approx 4ft x 4ft) but I believe their roots have grown into the native soil. Is there any chance of saving them? Suggestions for how to do it? Or better off starting fresh ?
No advice, but I’ll be following. I’ve tried moving wild pawpaws much smaller than that with no success.
I suppose if they’re getting bulldozed anyway it wouldn’t hurt to dig as much as you can, prune the heck out of the top, and hope for the best.
It’d be worth trying to do an experiment on propagation via root cuttings. Are they willing to dig the trees up for you with the heavy equipment?
Ksu research showed that root cuttings had the ability to form new shoots. You could also take scion as a backup if you really like those particular fruits.
Whats the background on the trees? Are they as good or better than existing cultivars?
Sadly not sure what cultivar, as they were already there when I started working on this site, and the only record of their planting/purchase has them listed as “Common Paw Paw” lol. Very tasty tho. But yes, we should have access to a front-end loader to potentially dig them up & move them.
What’s the reason for top pruning?
So the the roots can recover better from their damage without the top starving them.
Pretty much what KS said. Often you disturb a lot of feeder roots and, at least where I live, often the plant will dry out no matter how much water you give because there aren’t enough fine roots to support the top. Even if you managed to salvage many of the larger roots, if you don’t get sufficient small roots the tree often dies. It seems to be worse if dug from heavy clay than sandy or compost rich soil. The clay likes to rip the feeder roots in my experience.
My rule of thumb (for most trees, as mentioned I haven’t had success with pawpaw) is cut back the top to “match” the amount of root you salvaged, then cut it back a little bit more. Basically stunt the top to give roots time to recover.
Ok great to know! Yeah I’m not super optimistic but might be worth trying if it’ll die either way
That’s what I’d do. Even a 5% chance of survival is better than a 100% chance of death.
If you can get most of that 4x4 planter in the bucket I think they have a good chance. If they do make it they will take several years to recover though. Worth the effort if you have the machine, but a waste of time by hand.
Can’t you take cuttings and graft?
Yep.
presumably the OP didn’t want to reset the clock and have to wait years for fruit.
If you have heavy equipment you should be able to dig and move them. If you dig, you should give them a heavy pruning to lessen their energy demands upon waking up. Avoid breaking any major roots. Dig them now while they are dormant!
There was a guy on the forum,who moved at least one tree from a property in Fremont,CA to San Francisco with success.They were probably similar in age.
If the site will be bulldozed while the trees are dormant, the operator, if asked, might be willing to cut deeply around each tree before pushing each onto their sides, this could save a lot of digging and root damage. Maybe worth inquiring
Dennis
Kent, Wa
Large tree spade ?
I have seen 6" DBH maple trees successfully transplanted with a tree spade, of coarse they don’t have the tap root like a pawpaw.
Pawpaw trees are notoriously hard to transplant when dormant, the best time to move root suckers is when they are just leafing out in the spring. I have had good success transplanting at that time. Perhaps that would be the best time to transplant a larger tree also?
I would agree.
Ooh interesting…the timing might not be in our control since this is a city project, but I will see if we can advocate for that!