Transplanting a very small Black Locust

[Quark]

Hello everyone, this is my first post here, and I have a question on how I should go about transplanting this little black locust I found growing in my woods, which strangely enough is growing more than 200 feet away from the only locust tree on the property. The issue with this sapling is the presence of horses on the property, they don't eat the locust leaves off the tree however they do eat the new saplings if they find them. I want to avoid this as black locust is toxic to the horses, and I do not want them getting sick. I have read before that the tree needs to be dormant in order to do this procedure but I doubt the sapling will survive long enough to get to dormancy. So with that being said I believe my only option is the shear the little guy down or dig em up and cross my fingers. Will the tree survive a transplant at this time of year? I was thinking of moving it to a planter and letting it grow inside over the winter to skip the dormancy and give it a solid start next spring.

 

[Meadowlark]

Howdy. I wish I had access to some of that black locust wood. My take is that the chances of transplant survival now would be very low.

If you are willing to wait awhile until dormancy your chances are much better but use protection of the sapling in the meantime.

This looks like it would work for you and the horses.



About $20 on Amazon...just search for plant protector.

 

[cpp gardener]

I second that opinion. If you do successfully get it to grow, don't worry about taking it inside for the winter. It will go dormant anyway unless you have a greenhouse and very, very bright plant lights.

 

[Oliver Buckle]

I reckon you could make something similar for a lot less than $20 with a bit of chicken wire and some bamboos. Cut edge up that stuff is well prickly and horses have sensitive noses.

 

[Mr_Yan]

I bet if you get a big enough ball of dirt with the sapling it will work. Chances are best if you're going right from hole to hole.

But don't try to bring it indoors for the winter. Not going dormant has a high chance of killing it.