DIG AND SELL NATIVE TREES

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Of course, you'll also have to locate a source (or sources) of trees. This may well be the most difficult part of the job, but available saplings can be found in most any locale. Basically, you'll need to look for well-balanced, healthy, proper-sized trees of a marketable species. But don't be too reticent about collecting clumps with multiple trunks, and unusual or what may seem to you to be "ugly" trees. I've been surprised—more than once—by what my buyers have found attractive.

Trunk diameter is one of the most important factors to consider in tree selection. In most cases, your best choice will be a tree with a trunk from one inch to three and a half inches in diameter. Anything larger than this will probably require machinery to lift and move ... although conifers (which have prodigious but shallow root zones) can sometimes be handled when they're a little bigger than these guidelines specify.

Of course, you'll need permission to move the trees you choose ... but landowners will often give 'em to you, when you ask in a friendly way and promise to fill up the holes afterwards (which should be done as a matter of course anyway). Otherwise, $2.00 to $3.00 per tree seems to be an acceptable price to most of the people I've contacted.

BEFORE YOU DIG

Okay ... let's say you've found some trees. Now, for the "how to do it".
You will, of course, need some basic equipment: a standard shovel, a mattock, a pair of long-handled pruners (to cut stubborn roots), a pair of hand pruners (to trim back branches), a long, narrow tree spade (your main tool), and some burlap sacks and heavy twine. (As for the last two items, old feed sacks and used baling twine can often be had for free from friendly farmers and mills.) These few tools—along with a good wheelbarrow and a pickup truck—are about all the supplies that are necessary.

The actual digging procedure is relatively simple, too. First—after you select a tree—clear an adequate working space around it and trim back any unnecessary or awkward branches. (You may also find it necessary to temporarily tie up some of the limbs ... to keep them out of the way.) Next, clean the leaves and debris from the area to be dug and check for any surface roots (they can help you estimate the width of the underground root structure).

Before you start to dig, however, you'll need to determine the size of the ball of roots and earth to be removed. A left-handed rule of thumb is to figure on one foot of "real estate" for each inch of "lumber". For example, a three-inch-diameter tree should have a three-foot-diameter ball. Notice, however, that this is the horizontal measurement only. The ball depth can usually be a lot less than the width ... though the former should always be deep enough to catch the all-important feeder roots (the small ones) and most of the major roots as well. After you've ascertained the proper ball size, add about three inches of "safety zone" (which will be shaved off later).

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