Advice needed for recently ground-planted Amur Maple - how can I replant it? Pond basket?

[OneFeather]

I live in Zone 4b (near Toronto Ontario)

One week ago exactly I planted this young Amur maple (might be two with the roots tangled) above where I buried my pet. I suppose I didn't mound enough soil especially where he was buried because it sank considerably. I packed more dirt up and around the tree (it's surrounded by a chicken wire fence) but I'm at a loss for what to do at this point. It's sunken quite a bit, especially more so on the side my pet was buried. The base of the trunk is also already covered from initially planting too low. Should I leave it until spring? Could I dig it back up and replant it mounded on a cloudy day that has a rain forecast?

My priorities are to grow it in the ground so it's as if my lost pet is helping it grow. However, I'm not sure when I'll move out or how much heads up I'd have if I do. I'm not planning to do so for *at least* another year or two, but I would like to be able to dig up the tree in the least stressful way within about 3 months notice if I need to. I was suggested to plant it in a pond basket in the ground but couldn't get one in time. If I do dig it up now, should I do that, and what size? And that way I can rotate it yearly and have an easier time moving it with me if I need to?

Additionally, I didn't the first time I planted it but I'm wondering if it's safe to/I should do minimal root work before replanting it. I didn't when I first planted it. The root mass seems fairly small; it wasn't even close to being pot bound, so the roots aren't circling as far as I can tell.

Finally, the soil is very clay heavy. I added a bag of compost that was recommended at the nursery to mix with the soil but I'm wondering if I should add some substrate and if so what kind of substrate to add.

 

[MHBonsai]

Sorry to hear about your pet. They do become part of the family, for sure.

If this was my tree and situation I would leave it as is to grow. The tree needs time to stabilize. It’s a young enough sapling, you have lots of time to get nebari healthy. Messing with the roots or digging it will just slow it down more.

 

[19Mateo83]

My biggest question is why plant it over your pet knowing you will have to dig it up…. You do know roots grow down right? Sorry if this comes off as insensitive and my condolences about your pet…but I would get that tree out of the ground and plant it close to your pet, not over it. I can only imagine the trauma having to exhume a pet to get a tree out when you can move it now and save that heartache again. It’s a sapling, it’s not ideal but it should be able to take a second move. Just my $.02

 

[OneFeather]

My biggest question is why plant it over your pet knowing you will have to dig it up…. You do know roots grow down right? Sorry if this comes off as insensitive and my condolences about your pet…but I would get that tree out of the ground and plant it close to your pet, not over it. I can only imagine the trauma having to exhume a pet to get a tree out when you can move it now and save that heartache again. It’s a sapling, it’s not ideal but it should be able to take a second move. Just my $.02

Well my pet is buried just over 3 feet deep, I doubt that I'll be digging that deep to remove the tree (especially since I'm planning on digging it up within a year or two to do some work on the roots after some additional research I did on here about planting in the ground). Additionally, the tree is not directly above, it's about a foot away from it. I can't say I put 100% thought into it since I was understandably not thinking very straight, but I did post about it on a different bonsai community and nobody mentioned that issue to me before I went ahead and planted. Do you really think I would have to essentially exhume him to remove the tree? I definitely would not want that and would instead just consider starting an air layer if I get wind I might be moving anytime in the next year.

 

[Shibui]

Should be safe to move a small tree given it has only been a couple of weeks since planting out. Roots are not likely to have grown much in that time.
Not sure that I would do much root manipulation in summer, especially it it required breaking or cutting many roots but if the existing root mass will easily open out without too much damage that can be OK. It all depends what you find when you dig.
I'm still not clear why the ground has subsided more than a foot away from the grave but that's beside the point.

You should not have to dig more than a foot deep to remove your tree while it is still small. The bigger it gets the deeper you'll need to dig to get under the trunk but I rarely dig deeper than 18 inches to get even larger trees out of my grow beds.

 

[rockm]

Well my pet is buried just over 3 feet deep, I doubt that I'll be digging that deep to remove the tree (especially since I'm planning on digging it up within a year or two to do some work on the roots after some additional research I did on here about planting in the ground). Additionally, the tree is not directly above, it's about a foot away from it. I can't say I put 100% thought into it since I was understandably not thinking very straight, but I did post about it on a different bonsai community and nobody mentioned that issue to me before I went ahead and planted. Do you really think I would have to essentially exhume him to remove the tree? I definitely would not want that and would instead just consider starting an air layer if I get wind I might be moving anytime in the next year.

Ground growing is mostly useless if you plan on digging it up within two years. That's just when the tree has become established in the ground. If you want any benefits from in ground growing--large trunk and better nebari, three years is probably the minimum. Five is better.

As for digging it up now (or within two years), no, you won't have any issues with disturbing your pet. It's a seedling, so it will have very scant roots for a few years. You probably won't even have to use a shovel to get it out. A hand trowel dug four or five inches into the soil will probably do it.

If you leave it longer than five years, you may have issues, but if you use the regular collecting tactic of using a sawzall to sever roots within six or seven inches of the trunk, you won't. Shovels are not all that great as a collection tool for vigorous deciduous trees.. You don't need a massive root ball with an Amur.

 

[OneFeather]

Should be safe to move a small tree given it has only been a couple of weeks since planting out. Roots are not likely to have grown much in that time.
Not sure that I would do much root manipulation in summer, especially it it required breaking or cutting many roots but if the existing root mass will easily open out without too much damage that can be OK. It all depends what you find when you dig.
I'm still not clear why the ground has subsided more than a foot away from the grave but that's beside the point.

You should not have to dig more than a foot deep to remove your tree while it is still small. The bigger it gets the deeper you'll need to dig to get under the trunk but I rarely dig deeper than 18 inches to get even larger trees out of my grow beds.

It's a long story but it's not more than a foot away, but it was the same hole. We ran into problems with the original large hole we dug and had to dig a small hole straight down at the edge of the larger one to avoid a large boulders so we could bury him deep enough. The tree was planted closer to the front of the hole, that ends up being just under a foot by my estimation.

Thank you for your input, I feel a lot better now and less anxious about my options here.

 

[OneFeather]

Ground growing is mostly useless if you plan on digging it up within two years. That's just when the tree has become established in the ground. If you want any benefits from in ground growing--large trunk and better nebari, three years is probably the minimum. Five is better.

As for digging it up now (or within two years), no, you won't have any issues with disturbing your pet. It's a seedling, so it will have very scant roots for a few years. You probably won't even have to use a shovel to get it out. A hand trowel dug four or five inches into the soil will probably do it.

If you leave it longer than five years, you may have issues, but if you use the regular collecting tactic of using a sawzall to sever roots within six or seven inches of the trunk, you won't. Shovels are not all that great as a collection tool for vigorous deciduous trees.. You don't need a massive root ball with an Amur.

Planting the tree in the ground was first and foremost just to have the tree planted on the grave. I have no idea how long it'll be in there for; the 1 or 2 year timeline is just a "worst case scenario" estimate as Id like for it to be there longer.

Thank you for your response and for explaining how far out I should dig and the tools I'd need in both scenarios, that's very helpful.