When to transplant young Mimosa trees

Question

I have selected four Mimosa trees growing in my woods which I would like to dig up and ship to a friend who has asked for them. Each of the four trees is about 12″ tall. Should I do it now before they leaf out or should I wait until they start leafing out? I have read the instructions on watering the area before digging, etc. I plan to ship them with a rootball rather than bare root. Any suggestions you can offer would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

Answer 1

Try digging up a few of the saplings, by digging out around them about a foot in diameter from the base. Get off what dirt you can very carefully, salvaging as many smaller roots as possible. Try not to break them at this point, but you won't be able to avoid it completely. Put them into a container, and bring them inside under lighting, or in a bright window. Treat it as a houseplant until it perks up, just to make sure that it didn't die from transplant. Once it shows signs, then you can look into shipping since it will be in a light potting mix, and you will know for sure that it is alive.