How to Dig Up a 4-Foot Holly Tree

With it glossy, scalloped, dark green leaves and clusters of bright red berries that appear in autumn and last through winter (assuming your holly is a female), a holly is an attractive specimen tree for any landscape. If your holly stands 4 feet high, it is probably about 4 feet in diameter, which makes it large and unwieldy to transplant--but not impossible. You will need a large, heavy-duty wheelbarrow or garden cart and the help of several friends or neighbors to move the holly.

Things You'll Need

• Spade
• Heavy-duty wheelbarrow or garden cart
• Natural burlap
• Natural twine
• Mulch

Instructions

1. Prune the roots of your holly in the fall to prepare for transplanting the tree in the spring. With a garden spade, cut 12 to 15 inches into the soil around the longest, outermost branches. Root pruning severs the long, thin feeder roots that the holly has sent out into the soil to absorb water and nutrients. By severing the long feeder roots now, you will encourage the holly to sprout new feeder roots, which still will be small and compact when you move the tree in spring.

2. Dig up the holly’s rootball in early spring when the temperature no longer drops below freezing. The ratio is at least 6 inches of rootball for every foot of the holly’s diameter. If your holly is about 4 feet around, the rootball should be about 24 inches. Wrap the rootball in natural burlap and tie it with natural twine. Then gently lift the holly, place it in the wheelbarrow or garden cart and transport it to its new location.

3. Lower the tree into the hole. Untie the twine and unwrap the burlap. You can leave the burlap in the hole because it is biodegradable. Do not scatter a layer of fertilizer at the bottom the hole. That could burn the young feeder roots. Make certain the hole is of the same depth as the one from which you moved the tree. Once you have planted the holly, give it a good soaking and spread mulch about 2 or 3 inches thick around the tree, leaving a couple of inches between the mulch and the trunk.

4. Water the holly every day for a week after it has been transplanted. Monitor the moisture of the holly’s soil for the next year. Only water it when you can feel that the soil is dry 2 or 3 feet deep around the tree.

Tips & Warnings

• Soak the holly at its base with a garden hose before you lift it. This will help the rootball remain intact.

• Lift the tree from the rootball, never from its trunk or its branches. The weight of a 4-foot holly could cause the trunk or branches to snap.

References

• Sandy’s Garden: Moving a Holly Bush
• Gardening Know How: How to Transplant Holly Bushes