Hi. I just transplanted a sugar maple I believe it is, yesterday. It rode for a little over an hour to its new home. The tree was 4-5 years established where it was and had some of the burlap still covering the root ball plus some nice long roots growing out. I didn’t put anything but water on it when we planted it. Quite a few of the leaves are curling and/or wilting. It looks like some leaves on the very top have fallen off even. I put some mulch around the tree being careful not to cover the trunk base in about a 4’x4′ box. It is a big tree already as it stands probably 15 foot tall. I read after the fact about things like root grower and tree spikes. What would be your opinion to help our young tree along? Thank you for any advice.
Digging up and moving a large tree that has already leaved out on one of the hottest days of the year so far is pretty much a death sentence. It would have been good to have some Bio-tone starter food blended into the soil where it went. About all you can do now is prune away about 1/3 of the branches and soak the soil with a high phosphorus soluble plant food like Jack’s Blossom Booster or another soluble food with a high middle number (the phosphorus). Pound some holes several inches deep with a pipe and pour some of the Bio-tone as well for a longer feed. Keep it moist and hope.