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| I've had this problem with three black beauty chokeberries....looked healthy, no signs of disease or insects but it had limited growth and not lush like the many plants I've seen.
I decided to just rip them out, to my surprise I pulled them out with ease. The root system was very small and gridiled....makes sense now. Now as I look around and see other plants that aren't as full or large as their counterparts in the same grouping I feel as if I should pull them out and inspect the root system. For example, I have three cool splash honeysuckle. Two of them are full and about 18" X 18". The other is smaller and has fewer leaves. Another example, I have three Hypericum frondosum 'Sunburst'. They are all the same size but only one has the typical lush growth, the other two look thin. Thoughts? |
Follow-Up Postings:
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| Yes, the problem is pandemic - the industry apparently paying no attention for the most part - so I always have that in mind when I shop for and plant out stock. "Roots: avoid circling, girdling, or kinked roots. Check for burn or freeze damage as well as |
Here is a link that might be useful: Horticultural techniques for successful plant establishment
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| The majority of the shrubs I buy are in containers. Lately I've been roughing up the root mass before planting. I typically haven't ran into large encircling roots. Any thoughts on the shrubs with the thin growth? Just leave em? Dig em up? I'd probably have to wait until fall or spring at this point. |
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| Wash the soil off and look at all the roots. A common syndrome is a tight knot right below the crown, dating from too long a time spent in a band, liner or 4" pot. |
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| The coolsplash honeysuckle where all root bound. It was tough to do anything as they were mostly made of a tight mass of thin fiberous roots. I pulled out a dappled willow as well and wow what a tangled mass. It had fewer fiberous roots to I was able to untangle the mess...we'll see what happens now that I laid it out. |
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- Posted by ken_adrian z5 (My Page) on Sun, Jun 6, 10 at 15:00
| it would be better to do root surgery in fall or early spring.. not when they are fully leafed out.. though... on the other hand.. if they are struggling.. and you are a hatin' them anyway.. what do you have to lose ken |
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| I agree, but...to your point they are struggling. I thought about leaving em but why continue to let em choke? The next several days are going to be mild so I jumped on it. If they die they are easy and cheap plants to replace. |
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| Death unlikely even if existing leaves all shrivel. Same cannot be said of leaving roots in a knot. I've had foundation shrubs laid nearly level by snow after being in place over 20 years, found them to have pivoted over on knotted roots. A root-bound tree of some size could fall on property or persons. |
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- Posted by ken_adrian z5 (My Page) on Sun, Jun 6, 10 at 18:57
| i know you guys know.. i just added the qualification, in case some newbies might be reading with interest ... its one of those.. do as i say.. not as i do [since i really dont care if it dies.... i like to experiment] ... lol ken |
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| In my case it's do as I say and as I do. In fact, I've got some I've got to go back and dig up, re-do because I know the roots are not right. |
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| A short six days latter and most of the foilage on the dappled willow has browned. I don't have alot faith with this plant at this point. I brougt this up with the nursery in which I purchased them from (this is the only nursery I've had problems with pot bound/girdling root shrubs, in fact 7 in total)...this what he said. "if the plants are not growing out of their pot, usually it means that they are either growing in too wet of soil ,or the planting bed does not have enough organic matter in the soil. Shrubs are different than trees and usually do not girdle themselves as they are always sending sucker growth up and making new roots from Bottomline even with the couple plants out of warranty by a few months he is going to replace them...I thought that was quite classy. |
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