Replacing my orchard

As I mentioned in an earlier post, a new gas well is going to wipe out my orchard. I'm looking for sources to replace it.


I'm looking for sources that sell trees that are more than a year or two old - trying to not lose as much time as if I had to start out all new again. I hate to lose a couple to 4 years growth.


I'm repacing apple, pear, plum, peach, fig, paw-paw, nectarine, mulberry, persimmon trees & muscadine vines.

What a heart breaker to loose your trees and vines as well as all the time you invested in them.


Most mail order outlets sell younger trees for easier shipping, you might have to buy locally and get some potted trees that have some size to them.


Could you have a tree mover come in with a tree spade and just move your trees???


Is the gas company paying for this???


Good luck and Post some photos...would love to see the present trees as well as the future orchard.

That was my though to about the tree mover. If that is not possible, when are they going to tear them out? If not until next year, you could perpare them ahead of time and try to move yourself or hire a landscaper. If you can wait until fall when they go dormant, I would prune them back to fairly thick wood and leave about 6 feet tall. Then using a spade cut the roots to form about a 3 foot ball-which will be very heavy. Bundle it with burlap and keep moist until spring. Then you should replant first thing in the spring before buds break. Risky at best, but goo luck with the move.


PS- the tree movers could move them without you hardly ever even noticing. Find a reputable landscaper and consult with them.

Thanks for the replies. They will be digging up the area in about six weeks.


I've called all the nurseries, tree trimmers/maintenance types in the area & noone is interested in moving them. I also thought one of those large pieces of equip that snatches a 3' root ball & tree & all at once (see them on This Old House) would be the ticket. Can't find any.


I located one guy who mows lawns (landscaper also)who will take on digging them up & I've bought big lawn pots to put them in until late fall, but I expect 90% loss rate - it's already in the mid 90s here.


I got the gas company to pay 'damages', so I'm looking for nurseries that have older trees so I won't have to suffer so much of a time loss.


TyTy in Ga. is agood nursery, I've had good luck with them when I started & they have som 2 & 3 year old trees & a few 2 yr old muscadine vines, but not enough. I need 'good' sources. By good I mean nurseries that will ship when they are supposed to, have good stock, and good service.Too much to ask for?Edited by: bj4271

BTW Appleman, how far upstate are you?

Good luck Bruce. Hope it all works out. I am 20 miles south of the Canadian border- about 60 miles south of Montreal. It's a little Northwest of Burlington Vermont on the edge of the Champlain Valley- less than an hour from Lake Placid and about 5 miles from the Adirondack State Park.


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Have you tried calling the *manufacturers* of these plants? I'm not really familiar with these type of trees/ vines, but when I'm looking for plants I look at the main source. And then I go through a distributor/ dealer.
So maybe you can call the supplier & see if they will sell you direct or refer you to a distributor that can help?

appleman said:

Good luck Bruce. Hope it all works out. I am 20 miles south of the Canadian border- about 60 miles south of Montreal. It's a little Northwest of Burlington Vermont on the edge of the Champlain Valley- less than an hour from Lake Placid and about 5 miles from the Adirondack State Park.


http://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&hl=en&geocode=&saddr=44.675001,-73.587799&daddr=&mrcr=0&mrsp=0&sz=12&mra=dme&sll=44.633238,-73.466949&sspn=0.211088,0.52803&ie=UTF8&ll=44.60318,-73.33374&spn=0.844789,2.112122&z=10&om=1

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My father's from Plattsburgh - many moons ago.

What a bummer bj......So whats the chance that the area you are moving too now will be drilled sometime in the future?

Have you tried those rental places that rent Skid-Steer loaders, BobCats and such...they might have a tree spade for rent....Just a thought.

To bad you don't live a little closer hereBJ.They build those tree spades just down the road here about 20 miles. The spadesare all over the place around here. Edited by: swillologist

Northern Winos said:

Have you tried those rental places that rent Skid-Steer loaders, BobCats and such...they might have a tree spade for rent....Just a thought.

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Good thought NW. They do have tree spade attachments here at the local Rental store for Bobcats. "Let your fingers do the Walking" and check the phone book. With any luck, they might have one.

Waldo said:

What a bummer bj......So whats the chance that the area you are moving too now will be drilled sometime in the future?

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Waldo, you scared the hell out of me with that thought! This is the third time they're drilling on my property in 4 years. Actually, though, they are limited by proximity to other wells, houses, etc.


This time they really wanted to fill in one end of my pond & drill there. I held them off for a year & then got them to directional bore from a well-pad where they had drilled the other wellsabout 1000' further back on the property.

I found a nursery that can dig them up, but he said the same thing I was afraid of - expect 90% loss this time of year.


He is checking with his suppliers about getting more mature plants, & is the only one willing to do that. It's amazing how complacent folks are nowadays.


Angell, you're an angel. That place is only a coupl\e of hours away & seems to have mature plants.

It seems to me the "damages" is pretty well undefined, but would depend on how tight their sub-surface rights are -- just thinking out loud here -- but if there was a man-made improvement on the property, would the "damages" include moving/replacing that surface improvement? I'm thinking here that your orchard is not like merely digging up some grass out in the pasture, or even a row crop, but "infrastructure" invested for long-term gain. Of course, I know their lawyers may have thought all this through long ago, but it might be worth checking into just what "damages" could mean.


I'll shut up now, and go have a glass of wine! But best of luck!

OilnH2O, the "damages" they paid were for the replacement value of the trees and I charged them for buying matureplants instead of for 1 yr old stick trees. That's why I can afford to get the bigger plants.

Good for you! Hope it all works out!

Me too bj....keep us posted on the progress