Relocating a treasured tree can be a great way to save it and provide an excellent focal point for a remodeled area. But how much does it cost to transplant a tree? It depends on several factors, including the size of the tree, the distance it needs to be moved, access to the site, and the complexity of the work. An experienced team under ideal conditions should be able to dig up the tree, wrap the root ball, prepare it for transplantation, plant it in its new location, fill the hole left by the tree and clean everything in one day. However, if you have terrible access to the site but have deep pockets, you can move a tree with a crane, an option that normally costs several thousand dollars.
Established tree root systems can have an extensive extension, far beyond the drip line in most cases, often equal to twice or triple the height of the tree. If you are close enough for the trees to touch the canopy, you can bet that there is a serious mixing of the root systems and even removing a fairly compact root ball by a tree shovel would likely damage the root system of the remaining trees. Exactly how much damage and how recoverable is under discussion. In general, the recommendation would be to trench or prune roots in early fall for a spring transplant or with even older and more established trees (such as OPs), up to one year before the contemplated move.
This infographic highlights site decisions and issues that can cause large cost variations in the typical tree transplant budget. The costs of transplanting a tree will depend on the size of the tree, the distance to which the tree must be moved, the distance that the company has to drive to its location, access to the site, the excavation conditions, the complexity of the work and the size of the tree trunk. When the new destination needs a lot of work to fix it, this requirement will easily add to your total costs. Digging a tree can be expensive and can depend on the size of the trunk, how far you need to move it, and also where you want it to move. As such, you should expect more costs when moving a tree compared to lower costs that can be obtained in smaller cities. The goal is to take it out of its current location and relocate it to a more pleasant or suitable location. While there are several ways to lift the root ball, one of the easiest and most cost-effective is using inflatable air logs.
Transplanted trees are usually not guaranteed to live, which makes planting a new tree with a guarantee more economically feasible. There are other factors that influence costs such as contractor hired, emergency relocation and angle of tree. What kind of company would move a 25-foot tree for five hundred dollars? It seems like an extremely low price unless two trees are thin sticks. By way of comparison, James thought his palms might look better in front so he came over to ask if it was worth moving one or both of them. So how much does it cost to transplant a tree? It depends on several factors including size of tree, distance it needs to be moved, access to site and complexity of work. Figuring out where size of your tree is located is not that difficult as size includes height and trunk.
