Backyard and Backcountry: Moving my roots

When I was in 3rd grade the company that my dad works for offered him a big promotion and a lot of opportunity if he was willing to relocate to Las Vegas. When I first found out I was devastated at the prospect of leaving our friends and family in Illinois. My grandma still laughs to this day because when I first talked to her after finding out we might have to move my biggest concern was a little rose of sharon tree that she gave me when I was 4 years old. I asked her if we could dig it up and put it back in her yard so that she could look after it when we moved.

My dad made a big sacrifice for his family and ultimately didn't take the promotion because he was putting his family ahead of his career ambition, something I look up to him for so much especially since starting my own career. Things have worked out even better for him by staying in the office in Illinois so it wound up paying off in the long run. My tree has remained in my parents back yard since then and has grown up along with me (although it's a few feet taller than me now).

3 weeks ago my parents excitedly told me that they finally bought their dream house. After 22 years in the house that I grew up in, my parents are going to be moving out and living somewhere new. While it tugs at some nostalgia a bit, I couldn't be more excited for them and for what the future holds for our family. We have had an awesome time in the house I grew up in but with my sister and I grown up and on our way towards having our own careers and houses, my parents needed a change. The new house is beautiful and situated on an acre and a half of land. There are beautiful big maple trees (that I can't wait to tap for syrup this winter), friendly neighbors, and a huge lawn for the dogs to run around on.

While it might be the most ridiculous thing in the world to some people, the prospect of leaving my tree was right up there at the top of things I was most sad about in leaving our home. There's no way in hell I could leave it, so this weekend while I returned home to attend a wedding I put aside a few hours to transplant it. I spent Saturday morning digging the tree out of the ground and wrapping the root ball in burlap. I've never transplanted a tree by myself so I had to do a bit of research.

American Robin

When you transplant a tree you generally want to do it at a time that will be least stressful for the tree. It was a cool overcast October day so it was absolutely ideal. High temperatures and lots of sunshine can cause the tree to wilt as it is already stressed by having its roots moved. The root ball should be 10 inches to a foot in diameter for each inch of the thickness of the tree's trunk. Since my tree is only about 8 ft. tall with a 2-3 inch trunk I was able to dig it out within an hour no problem. I wrapped the tree up in burlap and watered it well before putting it back into the ground where it would stay overnight.

Project supervisor

On Sunday morning I went back to the house and with the help of my dad loaded it up and drove it to it's new home at my parent's new yard. My parents have been so busy with the new house and work but still found time to help me with something that they knew was important to me. I'm beyond lucky. Arriving at my parent's new house to plant the tree was the first time I was able to see the house in person and I was so impressed with how beautiful it was. The previous owner had several birdfeeders up so there were lots of birds around and some of the leaves were starting to change for the fall. We got my tree into the ground pretty quickly and it will be in my mom's care until I get home but so far looks like it's handled the move pretty well. I'm really glad that I get to keep something so special to me!