Excavating & Root Washing a Small Tree That's Failing to Thrive
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- Опубліковано 2 сер 2024
- Let's talk roots. And Root Flares. When planting trees it is vitally important to plant the tree at the right depth! Failing to do that simple step correctly can and WILL cause problems for the tree down the road. In this case, we found that the tree was planted too deep - over 6" too deep! So we excavated the roots by completely digging it up to look at what was going on below grade. The roots were spiraling and crossing, several were trying to grow straight up! That was either a result of being planted too deep and trying to reach oxygen, or simply because that was the angle that they were in when they were originally planted.
What if your tree is too big to dig up??? Arborists have special tools for excavating the roots without completely digging the entire tree. So if you suspect your tree is having problems, call your local certified arborist! Make sure to read their reviews because not all arborists are equal and different ones may specialize in different things.
One last thing - we did this in the summer, which was NOT ideal! We tried to make sure to keep things moist, but it was not enough. This tree ended up showing transplant stress and shock. We should have waited until fall to do this project but both we and the client wanted answers so we were impatient. In the end, the client opted for replacement.
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Chapters:
00:00 - Intro - when a tree is planted wrong
01:16 - Digging & what we found
03:00 - Washing & Pruning the Roots
04:43 - Replanting
06:12 - Pruning the top
07:02 - Amy's monologue & rant about so-called "pro's"
Just what I needed. I didn’t know your could set a root ball in a bucket of water to expose all of the roots. I have some black hill spruce trees that were planted in pairs on accident behind a tractor planter. I need to dig them up, separate the trees by exposing the roots and replant them singularly. Now I know how!!
I'm glad this was helpful! Just don't do it in extreme temperatures... I did this in the heat of the summer which was dumb and I should have known better. The tree did try to make a recovery though! But the client decided she wanted something else so it was dug up anyway.
Best to do root washes in the spring or fall when temperatures are mild and the sun isn't intense.
I am a Dendrologist in the province of Ontario Canada. This is an excellent and comprehensive video on the most important aspect of todays landscape tree issue.
Root collar burial and the overall planting of trees too deep.
Wow, thank you! I was honestly worried that I'd given bad advice, not because anything I said was wrong but because I stupidly did this wash in July when it was just too darn hot. I didn't think about it until later, and the client had us ultimately take out this tree to replace it with something else, so I didn't get to observe it for long.
Pray for me. The 30 gallon shantung maple I just bought is gonna have to have everything taken off the root ball and cleaned it just like this. The leader is also dead, don't know what the heck to do about that. Thank you for the video!
Crossing my fingers and praying for you and your tree! You're most welcome, I'm glad it was useful!
If the leader dies you will need to prune it out, then train a new leader. The tree will likely attempt to select a few leaders if you don't do it first, and that can cause a bunch of problems later.
I think that what happened to my tree, I live in Detroit and you can sigh up and they plant a tree at your curd. Well mine was doing beautiful for first fall, than died. They had a bunch of mulch around it. I watered it good noticed a run off. Removed mulch, made a trench. Water went down but I see no improvement. Is it dead. I don't know. It's a big stick. I hate that the fall leaves were the prettiest on the block.
How heartbreaking! Can you call the department that planted it and tell them what happened? Will they replace it? It sounds like if they were volcano mulching that they need to update their practices so it will help a lot if you let them know!
I once got a bare root rose bush from a mail order company with roots growing towards the sky and taller than the stem I tried to plant the rose but it didn’t make it. On reflection I should have taken a photo of the poor quality plant and requested a refund.
I rescued a neighbor’s suffering magnolia that had been planted complete with its packaging who knows how long it had been like that.
There are so many ways to plant a tree wrong I can't even count them. I'm glad you were able to save your neighbor's tree! Bummer about the rose though.
@@GardenUPLandscape Yes, it was a Week’s rose that was drop shipped through Breck’s-so disappointing. Quality control matters. 🥀
Did the tree survive?
I believe it would have, but the client opted to replace it instead.