moving a small Japanese red maple? How?

[boobear]

Hi, I've not been in this forum for a while, wee ones prevented me from gardening but now I'm ready to start back up.

We recently moved (NY zone 6) and have two big Japanese red maples, beautiful. Well, I found two small (about 3-4') baby Japanese red maples and want to relocate them without killing them. Has anyone done this or know a good resource? I'm web surfing around to see what I can find. TIA!

[hsingmamato3]

Landscaper hubby says...
It'd be best to wait to move them until after the first full moon in May to reduce the risk of frost damage.
When you dig up the tree, dig up as much of the root mass as possible & include as much existing soil as possible.
If you are transporting them by vehicle they have to be covered or in an enclosed space (i.e. the back of a van) Also, you might want to wrap the root ball in burlap and have it damp during transport.
When transplanting dig the whole 3x the size of the root ball and then back-fill with the existing soil (that you removed) and then water VERY well. Keep watering for the duration of the season (i.e. depending on how dry it is - water 2-3x/week)
If you have any other questions I'd be glad to ask hubby to answer them!