We could say we didn’t know it was “impossible,” so we went ahead and did it — but in truth, we knew from the start it was possible. That’s why we decided to relocate a huge London plane tree, which has since remained the largest tree ever transplanted in Hungary.
Our Zoo has several playgrounds. One of them, the Szép Miklós Playground, is next to the domestic animal area, alongside the narrow-gauge railway track. Stretching its branches toward all directions and the sky above, a broad-crowned London plane tree casts cool shade over the children playing below.
Anyone familiar with the site’s history might wonder how this tree ended up here. This area was not always part of the Zoo. From 1864 to 1907, it belonged to us, but later became part of the amusement park — first the fairground, then from 1950 the Vidámpark — before returning to us in 2014. When we regained the land, the spot where the playground stands today had no trees or plants at all. Instead, it was occupied by a reinforced concrete race track in the shape of a figure eight, covered by a steel-framed structure with corrugated plastic roofing. It’s clearly impossible for a London plane tree to grow to this size in just a decade. So how did it get here?
The answer is: we planted it here. When the amusement park closed and the former Zoo land was returned, we prepared landscape plans to reintegrate the area into the Zoo. This included relocating certain trees. A zoo and an amusement park are laid out differently: there were places where trees were needed but none existed, and other places where trees stood but could not remain. So it made sense to move trees from where they could not stay to where they were needed.
It’s worth pausing here. Some people at the time believed mature trees could not be transplanted, claiming such attempts were just expensive tree removals in disguise.
Our horticultural team knew otherwise. They are skilled professionals with both academic knowledge and extensive on-site experience in the Zoo. As an example, our former head gardener, Lajos Király, published an article on transplanting large, old trees back in 1938. In 1970, when the underground railway line was extended nearby, 32 mature trees with trunk diameters between 30 and 70 cm were successfully transplanted. The lessons from that project were documented by the late horticultural engineer Péter Bercsek, and our staff were familiar with them — helped by the fact that the then-chief engineer of FŐKERT, György Kiácz, was married to the Zoo’s head of horticulture, Mária Sulyok Kiáczné. In short, our experts knew much more about transplanting mature trees than those who doubted it could be done.
For the tree relocations needed nearly a decade ago, two methods were possible. Smaller trees could be moved using tree spade machines. Larger trees required a different approach, since no tree spade could handle the size of soil root-ball needed. For these, a high-capacity crane and special transport vehicle were required, along with proper preparation time.
The largest tree to be moved had a trunk diameter of 101 cm (measured one metre above the ground). We nicknamed it Big Döbrögi. The first step in preparing it was mapping the root system with exploratory trenches. Based on this, we dug a trench at the right distance around the root zone, lined the outer wall of the trench with special foil, and refilled it with nutrient-rich soil. We mulched the soil near the trunk and built a small earthen ridge to make watering easier. This preparation ensured the tree would adjust to drawing nutrients and water only from within the foil-lined root ball, encouraging root growth inside it.
The preparatory work described above for Big Döbrögi began 16 months before the transplantation, in spring 2016, as can be seen in the short film made at the time. Over the following more than a year, the tree had adapted sufficiently, allowing the actual transplantation to take place. However, before that, a thorough inspection of the canopy was necessary to ensure there were no animals in need of rescue.
After digging around the prepared root ball, which held about 60 cubic metres of soil, we supported it with steel beams and enclosed it in a structure to prevent it breaking apart during transport. The combined weight of the tree, root ball, and frame was 107 tonnes, of which the soil and roots accounted for about 90 tonnes. Using a high-capacity crane, we lifted the giant tree from its spot, moved it on a special transport vehicle, and set it into a prepared planting pit with the crane’s help.
This happened in 2017. After planting, we carried out additional work to help Big Döbrögi settle in and overcome the physiological stress of transplantation. Now, eight years later, it’s clear the move was a complete success. The tree is thriving — just like its slightly smaller counterpart, Little Döbrögi, another London plane tree located in front of the Shark School building, which was moved in the same way.
