Transplanting Pine Trees

We’ve got a pretty big project ahead of us this Spring. I think we might try to transplant at least one hundred baby pine trees. We’ll dig them up from the woods and plant them in the lawn. I’d say about an acre’s worth. I know – I don’t sound too confident about this little endeavor we conjured up. I’ll tell you why.

I just went outside, grabbed my shovel and walked back to the woods. Well, first I went behind the shed. I knew of a tiny little pine tree that was growing right up against the wall. That one was easy. I dug in the dirt a mere few inches, loosened things up and pulled out a bare root pine. I walked it over, dug a very small hole and planted it in the lawn. Here’s a picture of that one.

I was kind of confident after that. I walked with a bit of arrogance in my stride towards the woods. I said to myself, “Boy, this is going to be really easy.” When I made it to my first digging location, I put the shovel in the dirt and pushed down. It didn’t go in. Then, I tried again somewhere else. Same thing. Apparently, within the clustered areas of pines we have around here, we also have tons of roots. It seems like they’re everywhere. At least we have plenty of pines to choose from. Take a look.

It’s like this all over the back area. We have about a zillion baby pine trees. The problem is, it’s going to be a real challenge to pull so many trees out of those areas. We’re going to have to find the lonely trees at the edges and dig those up.

I did manage to dig one more tree up though and it was from the congested area. Here she is:

We’ll get there. Like Laura says, we don’t need a million of them. Just a hundred or so. With her help, I think it’ll get done. Good thing she’s on board because we’ve got a pretty decent sized area to fill. Here’s the back half:

Basically everything from the apple tree on the right side to the woods on the left. I want it all filled. I’ll let you know when it’s done.