Well my thought was that I’d try to develop a cordial relationship and let the buyer know that I plan to give them a call and set up a time to come and remove the trees. Try to be friendly.
One additional concern would be that the trees are not harmed or destroyed by careless landscaping or mowing or even spite by the new owner. That’s not really something I could enforce though. I’d just have to cross my fingers and hope for the best.
It’s tough because I need to sell the house ASAP. I can’t afford to continually pay for 2 mortgages. If worse comes to worse I’ll do what Northwoods suggested and stick them in pots in the shade with plenty of watering and hope they survive.
bleeding, if you have it in a written contract, you can call it breach of contract and then it becomes a legal issue. I am not sure if you would be able to call the police to escort you onto the property, or if you’d have to go to court, but certainly I would hop that Dave would be able to develop a rapport with the new buyer, so he could exercise his contract. I know when we bought our home, we allowed the sellers to come by later, to pick up some things they just could not move out when we took possession. We wrote up a separate agreement, it was no big deal. But, I agree with Dave, I would try to get in and get the trees as soon as you could, because you just don’t know how well someone might take care of something that is ultimately not theirs. Dave, if this becomes too problematic, I would still make sure the trees are excluded from the purchase in your real estate contract, and just remove them at the last possible moment, prior to giving up possession.
David,
In my neighborhood, there were two homes that changed owners three times each. All former and current owners have had cordially relationships. To me, having a clear contract upfront and a decent relationship should make your plan work.
I also have many friends who look at fruit trees as burden, not attraction when purchasing new homes.
Your trees were newly planted. I think that there would be a decent chance that they would survive when moved at a less than ideal times.
3 months on the ground and on mounds should be minor risk of fatalities when dug up, especially if your soil is friable. Probably worth the risk if was in your shoes, especially if one’s worried the trees might be neglected or inadvertently damaged by the new owner during the interim.
You could guesstimate the percentage of roots damaged as you pull them out, and simply trim a corresponding amount of branches. Also trim all the leaves leaving only the apical and axillary buds.
maintaining root to branch/leaf ratios is key. The higher ratio of root mass to branches/leaves is what one needs to optimize survival.
Compared to the price of the house, your past cost of installing the trees is negligible. I’d let the new owner do as they please. And again I’ll restate my opinion that you simply buy new trees, now that you know what you want to plant. You can buy larger trees that will surpass the ones at the old home. I have some experience with the situation (40+ trees worth) I believe this British adage applies: don’t be penny wise and pound foolish.
If the trees are only in ground for 3 month and they were barefoot, they cann’t possibly be too big or develop too much root, right? Can you find some big containers, and start to put the trees in the containers now? That way you can move them to the new place easily when you are ready.
Aside from Honeycrisp there is not a single tree in my small collection that can be purchased locally. I would need to order new trees again next year. It would set me back an additional year. I own the trees, I’m not lazy, and I’m willing to do the work to transplant them. Im not a commercial grower. I dont look at my time with my trees as wasted time. I enjoy what ive done so far. I’m not willing to just give them away to someone who may not even want them and then try to track down “large” versions of the trees just to have them shipped at additional expense. The new house will be less than 1 mile from my existing home which I will drive by every day.
Hi Sara. Since these are my first trees I’m not sure what 3 months worth of root growth would look like. Especially grown on mounds. I dont imagine they would be difficult to remove at all. The trees ranged from 5/8" to 1.25" caliper.
I did exactly what you propose- I put a clause in my contract of sale that I had x months to have a spade digger remove y number of specified (and flagged) fruit trees and I would fill and level the holes.
This is not unusual. Your realtor could be a lot more cooperative or well versed in your options. I brought some nice Asian persimmons to my new house this way.
Don’t hesitate to specify you’ll dig them during dormancy, not before.
David,
I planted a Winblo peach and a Castleton plum, both bare rooted, in the spring of 2014.
I move them to a new location in the spring of 2015. Winblo did not have a lot of root growth. Castleton had a lot more. I tried to dig as large a diameter around each tree as possible. Your trees were in ground for only 3 months. Root growth should not be too vigorous
I agree with Juju re. Roots vs branches ratio. I would say. Take them with you wirh the best possible option you can.
That’s Great! It sounds like you have an attachment to the trees and should move them. Get some big
containers and move them. (Now before the sale and not stress the new homeowner).
I would pull them now and put into pots and keep them in the shade
Don’t let them get vigorous,
Good luck. I would have just bought new trees and been OK with the fact the I had started two orchards!
Not to be insensitive to the attachment you have built up to the trees, but I agree with Richard. The sale of the house is just too big a transaction to complicate with the trees.
Now, if you want to remove them before putting it on the market (and fix up the lawn), that may actually help the value for some buyers who don’t want to take care of fruit trees. If you already have the other place, I’d say to pre-dig some good holes and use shade cloth after transplanting.
I’d also recommend planting some new potted trees (for example, Rolling River Nursery will ship now) at the new house. These new trees may be ahead of the transplants by next spring. Even if you can’t find just the right type, use it as a grafting platform. I’ve got well over 100 fruit trees and next time I need to move (hopefully at least 10 years out), I probably won’t take many at all- just a lot of scionwood.
Dave, huge congratulations! An upgrade with 2 acres can give your family lots of elbow room - not to mention the possibilities for designing and expanding your orchard to your heart’s content. What a fantastic opportunity!
I get it with the trees. These are your first, your babies. Sure, you could buy replacements in the future, but they wouldn’t be THOSE trees.
My suggestion is going to be different from the Californians’. I say to dig them now and put them in suitable containers. If you don’t have any that size on hand, you can go to GreenhouseMegaStore and order root pouches in 15 or 20 gal. size. Since this is only for short term, you can go with the less expensive ones, and wouldn’t necessarily need the longer lasting brown variety.
Fill in the holes and take any needed landscaping measures.
Having them already in portable containers removes them from being considered permanent fixtures to the property. You don’t have to worry about adding clauses to the contract, or whether the buyers will take proper care of them or change their minds about allowing you back on the property without a hassle. The fewer clauses, exemptions, complications there are to the sale, the less hassle it is to find a buyer.
If your area is going to be getting the rain predicted for the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic states, this could be a good week to dig them out.
Transplanting these trees can give you a literal and ceremonial way of setting down roots in your new family home.
Once you’ve moved, you will also have to send me your new addy so I can mail you your cuttings this winter when it’s the right season to take them.
I’m going to suggest another approach. First you don’t have a buyer yet. It could take months for sale and closing. Wait to dig the trees. If you can get to September they’ll have better chances potted or direct move to new orchard. Two months to find a buyer and a month more for closing gets you well into fall.
Speed, I agree with everyone else. A home sale is way too big a deal to be cluttering it up with dopey contract clauses. Mind you, I don’t think the idea is dopey, but the average person will see it as a very weird request.
Richard is right the cost of the trees is nothing compared to a home sale…I mean we’re talking what…like $300? Big deal…let the new owners have them, maybe you’ll inspire them toward fruit growing. Many, many have came to the GW and here searching for how to care for fruit trees in the yard of a home they had recently purchased. Chances are though, they’ll get chopped because like Patty said, most don’t want the hassle.
They’re not children, just trees and they are totally replaceable.
FWIW, I’ve thought about this very same thing since I plan to build a new home as soon as I find that perfect piece of land. In the end, I came to the same conclusion as everyone else here. If the timing worked out, I’d take them, otherwise I’ll just let them here.
I’d tend to agree with Appleseed and others, the sale of a house is too big a deal to let a few fruit trees get in the way.
That said, you could let your realtor know that you would like to take those trees with you, and it can be a point of negotiation in the contract you eventually hammer out with the buyer. Most people do not want fruit trees (too much work, drop fruit everywhere, etc), so I suspect you will be able to take the trees. I’d just write the part of the contract which covers this so that you have to remove them before closing. That is the safest way, no issues with getting back in, or how the new owners took care of the trees, etc.
Opps, hit something and it posted too soon. I was going to add, be sure the contract clearly states what you will or won’t be doing after you remove the trees (leaving a hole, replanting grass/sod, etc). Closing are very emotional times and it is good to have all the details decided ahead of time to help keep everyone in line…
I believe this British adage applies: don’t be penny wise and pound foolish.