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

[WaffleDogg20]

My dad had a stroke that left him wheelchair bound and without a voice. when I was 16 which caused my parents to lose their house as they couldn’t afford their mortgage. They were homes in a bungalow. a few months after moving in my mum was diagnosed with cancer, for her 60th birthday all she wanted was this specific cherry tree.

we managed to find one and bought it her and it was then planted in the middle of their garden. It was extremely special to both my parents. Sadly my mum died a few months later but for the last 12 years my dad tenderly looked after this tree and every year he would make us pick the cherries for him. We would find him many times just looking at it in the garden.

my dad died last year and in the rush of having to be out of the council bungalow the Tree was left.

its my biggest regret in life so far and every time I think about it I cry. It’s still in the garden as if drove past a few times.

would I be unreasonable to offer the new tenants a good sum of money to be able to take it? I would love to replant it in my garden as it holds so many memories with my dc.

I don’t know what to do :(

Also this. If it’s a council property, you will need to go through the council. It will be up to them to discuss it with the tenants.

Is it still a council tenant in it in which case they simply cannot agree to it and it would be the council.

I would take a cutting and replant it (maybe more than one) if they let you leave the original in the bungalow and have one with you

I agree with this instead.

I work in landscaping and transplanting a larger tree like that has a high failure rate. Writing to them to ask for cuttings however means that the tree stays where your parents planted it but you get a fresh tree/several trees. You can ask a professional to graph the cuttings or grow a new trees if needed.

Okay, with the photo you have attached, it’s going to take a digger to get it out in enough surrounds that it will even have the smallest size of survival when transplanted. Then the digger will be required again at your end to do it in reverse. You will need to have someone skilled in relocating mature trees do this. Even then this is in no way guaranteed, far from it. No way you can just take a shovel and get it out and replant and have any hope, just not possible. Then you are going to have to make good an enormous hole in someone else’s yard. This is all going to cost a fortune.

looks like a stella cherry I think, if you wanted to try another?

Cherry tree roots can be very sprawling. You'd be surprised how far they can go, even for a small ish tree.

At 12 years it's very established, would need a digger to dig out and would be unlikely to survive a move.

Sorry that's not what you want to hear 😩

Agree with PPs that the tree will be too big and have too large a root system to dig out now logistically and in a way it might survive, I’m sorry OP 😔. But I would ask about cuttings, grafts or taking some cherries to grow the seeds (if possible with the species. You could also take some leaves and plant them in with a new tree so when they break down it will absorb something of the original tree

I was going to suggest asking for a batch of fruit pips and growing a new tree, but a cutting is also an idea. That way you don't harm the original tree, but you retain the connection with your parents.

I think you should write a letter to explain the significance and ask to take some cuttings so you can replant it at home. They would have to be a very hard-hearted person to say no.
Taking some cuttings would mean the tree stays where your mum originally planted it and it's not at risk of dying but you still get tree. Think how sad you would be if it died on your land.
I also love the idea of a four-seasons picture frame of the tree. I have a four seasons picture of my children under some big beautiful trees in the local park and I love it.
Also, the story might warm the hearts of the people who have it now, if they haven't already formed their own connection with it. Cherry trees really are beautiful and it's likely an older or disabled person lives in a council bungalow who may well love it as much as you do. Why take it away from them when you can both have it and share that love?
I hope it goes well for you

Better to leave it where it is than to move it and risk killing it altogether. It is completely the wrong time of year for moving a tree anyway. You could always ask if they would let you take some cuttings though.

Ask to take cuttings. You can then grow several cherries trees which will all be part of the original one. And if the cuttings don't take you have not damaged the original tree.
Imagine trying to move the tree and it not taking - you would be devastated.
My dad has an apple tree from cuttings from his late mother's garden - and so do several aunts... so spreads even more love.

Could you try and take a cutting or two (only after asking of course)? That way you can try to grow your own tree and the new occupants aren't left with a huge hole in their garden where the tree would be. Also a mature tree may not take well to being moved so you could end up with nothing at the end of it. Better to try a cutting and see how you get on with that.

Could you ask for a branch and have something special made in memory of your parents? Cherry trees need trimming regularly, they will easily overtake a small garden.

YABU - because it would be very hard to transplant such a mature tree. It could kill it. Take cuttings or seeds and leave the lovely tree where it is to flourish and to hold those memories linked to that place 🌸

I like to leave a bit of myself at every garden I've lived at, be it spring bulbs or a tree. But there are also bits of gardens come with me, like I have a clump of irises which came from Mum's garden, a rose from one of her friend 's garden, and a phygelia which came from an ex's other ex's mother's garden... so I get that there are connections in gardens, both lwft and brought.

Take photos and take cuttings - they won't kill the tree, they'll come true, which growing cherry stones may not.

If it fruits then perhaps you can plant some of the stones? If they’ll let you have some? That’s from the same tree, easier to manage and there’s the same connection. Sorry if someone has already suggested this.

Ask to take cuttings x

As lots of PPs have said, ask for cuttings rather than the whole tree. They might say yes, but it'd be unlikely to survive the move.

I would ask for a cutting instead. I don't believe you can move a well established tree.

Like others have suggested, the tree may not do well at being transplanted at this stage (albeit I'm no expert). Could you ask for a cutting / some of the cherries from it to plant? (Whichever is the best way to cultivate a cherry tree). I completely and utterly understand the sentiment OP, I imagine I would feel very much the same way, and accordingly if someone asked for a cutting from my tree / seeds to plant for this reason I would be delighted to help.

I'm very sorry for your loss OP and I hope that you are able to find a way to resolve this that gives you happy memories.

I think asking if you could take a cutting or two and explaining the reason would be more likely to be amenable to the new owner than asking to dig up the entire tree.

It's a lovely idea, but the idea of taking a cutting and photos is more practical. Cherry trees have a moderate water demand from the soil. If the soils is at all clayey, the established tree/soil will be in some kind of equilibrium. Removing the tree could well cause the soil to heave and fracture the foundations of the bungalow (the heave will not necessarily be where the tree is removed from). Again, is the tree goes into soil with any clay in it, it is likely to cause that soil to shrink, which may well impact the foundations of near by buildings.

Op, what about hiring a photographer to take 4 photos during each season so you can create a collage? I wouldn't be against that if it was asked of me.

The jewellery is a lovely idea

If you can breed a second (and even third, fourth, fifth!) cherry tree out of the original then I think it’s a beautiful outcome OP.

Save your money to pay a professional gardener to do the tree graft / cutting. And for a lovely framed photograph or painting.

Trees are so antropomorphic and feel closer to humans than any other plant. That’s why we hug them I guess. Cherry trees especially- I was reading how in Japanese art the focus of paintings and photography is always on the humans - how they are reacting to the blossom, - rather than the blossom itself. And how the fact cherry blossom stays only for one week of the year is symbolic of the beauty of our human mortality, burn brightly while on earth. Lots to nourish the soul of any tree lover!

Come back and let us know how you get on.