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| Hi:
Recently ordered a Blackgum from Sooner Farms, in a 'Smart Pot' (supposed to discourage girdling, though I found one fairly large root that'd looped around, and had to get rid of it). Just ordered a 'plain old' Blackgum, since the cultivar I had my eye on was sold out (at least in the Smart Pot version, which I wanted to maximize root system since this tree has a rep. for being slow growing). So imagine my surprise with this tree, which has beautiful reddish new foliage (it's my understanding the regular species is solid green from the get go?), and it's obviously got a graft union. Looks like I got a desirable cultivar for the regular species price! Thing is, digging into the root ball to expose the root flair, I got this strange-looking flare. The roots head down, not out laterally like I expected. I've already planted it, but I'd like to get your thoughts. I'm wondering whether I need to build the dirt up around the base a bit. (Ignore the tree beside it; that a small Sugar Maple that's dysfunctional, perhaps from being planted too deep, that I'm getting rid of).
(That little black Pug is the mighty Woo).
I'm kind of at a loss for how high up the root flair to come with the dirt! Richard. |
Follow-Up Postings:
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| Planting depth looks pretty good. I would have split the difference between the existing soil line on the trunk and the level you have it planted. Once you add a couple inches of mulch, all the roots will be covered anyways. Planting hole itself looks a little too narrow but that is hard to get a feel for. I suppose you could have spread the roots out a little instead of leaving them straight down. I agree it is grafted and likely 'Wildfire' or 'Firemaster' as they sell both with the former being most likely since 'Firemaster" is out of stock. I paid a little extra for a 'Wildfire' and ended up with a species. Just getting these picky trees going is an accomplishment and worthy of a permanent spot. Good luck with yours. Make sure to give it plenty of water this summer! John |
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- Posted by wisconsitom 4/5 WI (My Page) on Tue, Apr 3, 12 at 19:49
| Looks just about right, Richard. Though there is little in the way of a "flare" to that rootflare, it is the point of divergence between trunk and roots, so you're golden. Like John said, now just bring some mulch to it and cover those roots a bit. +oM |
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- Posted by ken_adrian z5 (My Page) on Tue, Apr 3, 12 at 20:28
| yep-er-ree ... maybe a half inch high ... but frankly.. who cares ... perfect to me.. you have rough bark.. that transition right where the roots part ... to a smooth root covering.. top part = bark .. lower part.. root covering ... do not confuse what looks like a graft 3 inches up or so ... where it suddenly thins .. is that a graft?? .. what is that type of grafting called ... ken |
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