I recently transplanted a Plumeria Alba, commonly known as “Fetna” in Kuwait, with a height of 3 meters and a foliage span of 2 meters. It was planted (in the ground) 6 years ago, thus its root system has been well established meaning the process of relocation will not be a simple job; nevertheless, with the right planning everything is doable. To make the task easier and faster, I had the help of 4 laborers.

So, here’s what I did:

First, we stopped irrigating the soil a day prior to make the process of transplanting easier. As soil containing water will be heavier to transplant and we are already transplanting a heavy tree.

Second, we dug four trenches (70 cm deep) around the perimeter of the tree forming a 1-meter by 1-meter square. This square should contain most of the trees fibrous root system still intact in the soil, the idea is to keep as much of the root system intact and not letting the roots come in direct contact with the air. Some roots will have to be cut, so make sure to have a clean cut from using a sterile shovel to minimize root damage. The more intact the root system, the higher the success rate of transplanting.

Third, depending on the size of the tree’s root system we might need to remove a sizeable amount of soil beyond the trenches, to make the process of transplanting easier (either in the ground around the same region of the old location or a large pot if your relocating the tree to a region that is far away). For our case we transplanted the tree in a pot, 1 meter in diameter and 60 cm in depth, as the new location is yet to be built.

Fourth, we firmly wrapped a burlap around the soil/root system and started wiggling the wrap to  remove the whole tree and have it transplanted in its new location, which for us was the pot. During the transplant into the pot, some soil was lost so we added a ready potting mix to compensate the loss.

Fifth, we added a couple of bricks on the soil surrounding the tree stem and used a rope to securely stabilize the tree in its new location.

Sixth, we removed all the leaves and some excess tree branches (some will be propagated). The idea is to let the newly transplanted tree use all nutrients available in establishing its root system to increase survival rate of the transplant.