To ask stranger if I can dig up their tree in the garden?

Take cuttings!!!!

Write a letter to the new home owners and explain the history of the tree.

Take a gardener with you and get cuttings.

And then you can take the offspring of the tree with you.

The tree will remain where your parents chose to plant it - and yet you can take it with you.

That's a really nasty reply!

To do it properly, the OP would need to graft the tree. That is quite specialist and not 'gardening for beginners' at all.

Anyone who knew basic gardening could try a cutting, but you don't typically propagate cherry trees from cuttings, do you?

OP, I love the photo idea, but if you do want to get the tree grafted (and the new owners will allow you), google tree grafting services - some nurseries offer it, and it's not that expensive.

I would write them a letter saying what you have said. If it were me I would let you come and take it.

one point to think about is whether it would live through and move. Maybe take a cutting and re-grow it? Then you know the tree your parents loved is still where it was and living and strong. Plus you have the cutting, so it’s the same tree.

You could ask, but unless you are going to get professionals to dig it up, move it and replant it, it wouldn’t really be doable. You might think that it’s a size you could manage, but the roots will be substantial after 12-years. It’s not a domestic job. Also, because the roots will have spread so far, it will make a real mess of their garden and you would have to have that made good.

When you drive past, perhaps think of how happy both your parents would be that the tree is still being enjoyed. Then buy another another for your own garden as a remembrance of them 💐

Definitely not unreasonable to ask. They can always say no.
Trees can transplant very well and easily - but you need to make sure there is good ground for it to go in and plenty of air. Watering loads before and after can also help.

I think this is a fabulous idea. Photos and some pressed leaves and pressed blossoms would be a perfect tribute without risking the tree or destroying someone's garden.

The cutting could be a possibility but take advice from a specialist nursery as it would need to be properly grafted onto a rootstock that was suitable, its not as simple as taking a cutting and bunging it in a pot.

Maybe you could ask for a couple of cuttings if they don't want to sell the tree?

If it's a Stella, and it probably is, they are reliable and beautiful, then unless there's an eating cherry in the next garden, plant a small dwarf cherry too, or another full sized one if you have room. They need another to pollinate.

Then you can have a tree in your garden and also still know that the other tree is giving pleasure to the new owners.

Yes it’s really quite a skill OP.

BUT I understand why you want a cutting from that particular tree and it’s a whole lot less of a performance than transplanting a large tree - which also may not work. I’m sure they’d let you take several cuttings to increase chances.

If I were you I would cast about at nurseries etc for someone who is skilled with this and offer to pay them to help you. If there is a botanic garden near you that could be an excellent place to try. Plants people tend to enjoy their work and I’m sure if you look about enough you’ll find someone who would think this a rewarding project to help you with. But maybe approach the tree owners and ask asap. It would be heartbreaking to arrive with your cutting expert lined up and find they had cut it down and disposed of it …

If you have to ask this (and I’m not criticising, I wouldn’t have a clue either), then you may want to hire a professional gardener if you want to go the cutting route.

I come from a family of gardeners (though the gift has bypassed me entirely) and I know how much work / knowledge it takes. It’s part of the reason I’ve never tried myself.

Cuttings are very hit and miss. Do you think it will make you sad if you take some and they don’t grow? If so, you could take some leaves. Press some in a favourite book, and add some to the hole you dig for your new cherry tree.

If you buy a new cherry tree, you will be increasing the total number of cherry trees :)

If you want to try cuttings you need:

• seed raising mix
• cutting gel
• enough of a live twig of the cherry tree, that there are at least two nodes - the bumps where the leaves grow.

Dip the bottom of the twig into the cutting gel. Put the seed raising mix into a pot and make a hole in the pot for the twig. Don’t push the twig into the soil.

One node goes under the soil level and the other node stays above. If you are successful, the buried node will grow roots instead of leaves. Keep outdoors, part sun, lightly watered, but not wet, and wait until you see new growth. Then, leave it in the pot until you see roots in the drainage holes.

I was also going to suggest cuttings (or whatever is needed to get a descendant of the original tree).

Sorry OP - If you're asking basic questions about cuttings, I’d say this isn't gardening for beginners, I don't want you to be setting yourself up to fail! A cutting needs a bit of knowledge and expertise and although not impossible success isn't guaranteed.
Have you got a picture that we can have a go at guessing the variety? Try posting it in the gardening topic, or online somewhere.
The best time to plant a tree is autumn or spring, there are loads of tree specialists nurseries that’ll be able to help if its something unusual, or you’ll most likely find its a common enough variety you can get from any garden centre.

Google is your friend here.

These are lovely ideas 🥰

I also think it’s a Stella cherry tree, just google them for sale. Plenty of nurseries sell and deliver. Depending on budget you can buy a small young one for 20 quid up to a older more mature one at 100 odd quid.

i suspect you are not a gardener, apologies I mean that politely, many folks aren’t, and if that is the case it is maybe easier to buy one and plant it in your parents honour than attempt a cutting.

Don’t. It will not transplant, or survive - think how very sad you will be when it dies after you’ve moved it. The new tenant may well say no, and this will distress you too.
Try and reframe your thoughts about it, it’s growing in the place your parents planted it - it’s in its rightful place in the house and garden they filled with love and memories.
Plant something else where you can cherish and enjoy it. I have a tree in my front garden, the same species I once gave my Dad but not the same one. It’s been there over 35 years, and now is well over 30ft tall. It makes me smile everytime I look at it, to me it feels like my Dad is watching over us in a house and garden he never knew, and grandchildren he never met. It’s a great comfort.

Cuttings is a great idea OP. Symbolically you are taking from the old life and moving it on with you by growing it into something new. I’m also sure they’d let you take cuttings and sure they would take and grow, handled properly. You won’t be tearing up a garden, uprooting a special tree and most importantly you won’t run the risk of killing it altogether - which I think would devastate you.

If you aren’t old Greenfingers yourself, enlist help from a local nursery ( or even try the botanic gardens : someone might take pity on you and point you in the right direction) to take the cuttings and get them started .

If it is an actual cherry tree and not an ornamental blossom you could even take some 🍒 to grow from.

I really think this is the way to go OP.

Ah OP, can see why this is so sentimental to you and am sure the new owners would let you have cuttings. Let us know how you get on x

We had a cherry tree in the garden of our old house that was about 8 years old. We removed it to make space and it was a nightmare and we didn't want to keep it. I'd say it would be virtually impossible to move and relocate a tree that mature. The root ball will be huge and will weigh a ton.

How about buying a new tree and planting it in their honour and watch it grow and mature.

It would be MUCH WORSE if it died because you moved it

Now it gets to live on where they put it

Buy another the same and plant it in memory

Yes that’s a nice way of looking at it if they say no.

I certainly understand the desire to have the tree and I don’t think it can hurt to ask OP but how will you feel if you do uproot it and it dies ? A part of me wonders if leaving it where it took root and the memories were made isn’t in fact part of letting go and the grieving process.

Yes, what I would do.

I didn’t know about tree transplant shock but agree with others - it’d be even more heartbreaking if you dug it up and it died. Cuttings, along with a lovely picture of it, would be a much better idea.