When should Evergreens be transplanted, is a question which has been
very often asked and as frequently answered. There is not a month in the
year which has not been, from time to time, advocated as the proper
season in which to perform this important work. But I believe the
majority of those who have either written or spoken on this subject have
stated the preferable time to be, in their judgment, from the middle of
May to the middle or end of June in each year. I have known many to go
so far as to say that this is the only time that it can be done with
anything like safety. To this rule I wish to take exception, because the
period named is that of the plant’s greatest activity; consequently, a
greater shock will be given to it by its removal at this particular
period than at any other. It is now admitted by all who have given
attention to the subject, and it is in accordance with both theory and
practice, that the best time to transplant deciduous trees is when they
are dormant, that is, not growing; some time between the falling of the
leaf in Autumn and the bursting of the bud in Spring. In this severe
climate it is usually done in the Spring of the year, as soon as the
ground has become sufficiently dry and settled to work easily. There is
nothing in the nature of Evergreens to prevent this rule from applying
with equal, or even greater force to them. They, in common with other
trees, have their period of growth and their period of torpidity in each
year, although no living tree can be said to be in a state of absolute
torpidity at any time; they exhale moisture to some extent from their
buds and small branches, and Evergreens from their leaflets also, even
in the depth of Winter. In order to supply this waste they must absorb
by the roots, so that a circulation, however sluggish, is maintained
even at this period of the year. To transplant in the Fall or Winter
would be to cut off a great many of the roots that run to the greatest
depth into the soil out of the reach of frost, so that the tree would be
prevented from obtaining the moisture requisite to maintain life.
Therefore I would not recommend Fall or Winter as the season most
suitable for transplanting Evergreens. The comparative leisure of the
season might induce planters to perform the work in the Fall in milder
climates than ours. I have found the first Winter to be a trying time in
some years for Evergreens that were transplanted the previous Spring. In
May and June the plant is putting forth its utmost efforts to produce
the annual growth of wood; absorption, exhalation, and circulation are
in their states of greatest activity, and the plant receives a rude
shock when these are suddenly interrupted. By transplanting in the early
Spring the earth will have time to settle about the roots; young fibrous
roots will have commenced to grow, and the plant will not attempt to
produce the same amount of annual growth that it would if not removed
until June. The sap of Evergreens is resinous, and if the plant be long
exposed out of the ground the watery portion of the sap evaporates,
allowing the resin to harden, and no amount of water afterwards applied
to the roots will soften it, as it is insoluble in water at ordinary
temperature, the circulation consequently can never be restored, and the
plant of necessity must die. Now this state of affairs is more likely to
be brought about in Summer than in the Spring, when we have cooler
weather and a greater number of cloudy days. I would recommend early
Spring as the best time to transplant Evergreens. It is not contended
that Evergreens cannot be transplanted with success at other seasons,
but all other things considered, I believe the transplanting of them in
early Spring reduces the chances of failure to a minimum. If they are
taken up with a large ball of earth adhering to the roots, large trees
even may be safely transplanted at any season; this however is too slow
and expensive a process for large plantations. I have planted some
hundreds of Evergreens, and my experience agrees with what I have stated
above, as to time. The planting of shelter belts by the orchardist is
now thought to be necessary before he can be said to have completed his
arrangements for the successful growth of fruit, and the planting of two
or three rows of Evergreens will have more effect in protecting an
orchard from the cold winter winds than many rows of deciduous trees,
which have nothing but their naked stems and branches to offer as a
resistance; hence the importance of the subject that I have thus briefly
discussed. Tree planting is one of unsurpassed importance to the fruit
grower of the present day; and the free discussion of such questions in
a periodical such as the CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST, must be mutually
instructive and beneficial.
I wish to say, before closing, that I was much surprised and highly
gratified on receiving, one day this week, the first number of the
CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST. It will supply a long felt want, it being the
first publication of the kind in Canada, so far as I know. The one
mysterious thing to me is, how the Fruit Growers’ Association of Ontario
can supply so much, for the member’s annual fee of one dollar. The
Directors are entitled to the lasting gratitude of the members; and I
trust their laudable efforts to promote the interests of fruit growing
in Ontario may be crowned with unbounded success.
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