When to move apple trees (planted last year bare root aldi)

[astraman1]

Hello all I have just got another half plot and it's a field of weeds couch grass and docks

It has 4 apple trees on it but they are planted in 1 metre square am I too late to move them was thinking of digging them up and putting them in pots for this year

I'm guessing I'm to late now but thought I'd ask as they are young trees and only put in last year

Thanks

[Bigmallly]

If you can get a good root ball, you may stand a chance.

[fishpond]

As the roots will be growing and spreading now, I would leave alone until the dormant period, in the meantime, work around them .
If they were old trees I wouldn't think of moving them at all

[Lardman]

Id leave too. Wait it until it's dormant again - it's only a few weeks until everything should be in full bloom. You probably won't kill it but digging it up, but you're not going to do it any good either.

[Jay-ell]

4 apple trees in one square meter.
Sounds about right to me.

[GBax]

As others have said i would wait until the trees are dormant next winter

[Jay-ell]

Astraman - is the sole reason you want to dig them up because of the spacing? Trees trained as a cordon are often planted close together so this form of training could be a solution. What varieties are they?

[BUFFS]

I have shifted trees such as yours ,at this time of year as we kept moving house.old guy((younger than I am now) showed me the first time. We dug a 3/4ins deep ring round each tree, then 4 gallons of water was poured into each ring, the rings were about a foot out from the trunk. 24hrs later we dug deep and under the relatively young roots ,wrapped and lifted them, they are so full of water they don't realise they have been moved, I can look out the window now and see 7/8 trees that are growing happily after being moved in spring/ summer. My Acer osakazuki has been done four times and it was worth it for it's pillar box red each autumn, it just depends it it is done so that stress is as small as possible, then it will succeed..good luck with whatever you do..