|
| Hello,
Last Sept. I purchased and planted two 1.75 caliper autumn blaze maples. The trees were in containers. I had an arborist plant the trees. He told me he addressed the roots when he removed the trees from the containers. I live in Northern Kentucky. I was digging up the mulch around the trees today getting ready to put some new mulch down. I noticed a ring of roots about 10 inches from the trunk on both trees. I am very concerned about the long term health of the trees since this looks like a classic girdling root situation. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. I'm wondering if I can somehow address the girdling roots and stop them from potantially damaging the trees. Thanks. |
Follow-Up Postings:
|
| another picture |
|
| another pic |
|
| I would remove everthing growing in a circling fashion that I could find. Dig down a few inches around the edge and I'll bet you find more. Do it now or leave them and take the choked tree down just as it is reaching a size that will do you some good. Your "arborist" isn't much of an arborist! You must have some tall rabbits or a major sapsucker problem to have the trees girded so heavily. hortster |
|
| Looks to be planted too deep as well. Make sure to find the root flare. Agree with Hort otherwise. The only slight addition I would probable do, is take a utility knife, and cut out in a radial pattern from the root flare at 1-2" deep, cutting between the major roots of the flare. Arktrees |
|
| I really hope you didn't pay that arborist. In fact you should charge him for a replacment. I'd assume the mesh is for deer not tall rabbits. |
|
| The mesh is for deer. The trees were orginally in a container which is why I think the roots girded so much. How does one address the "deep planting" issue if the root flair is not that deep? Also, should I wait until the leaves fall off before cutting out the circuling roots or do so as quickly as possible? |
|
| Probable won't hurt anything at this point if you wait till leaf fall, but does so ASAP after that. As for the flare, about all you can do is remove soil, and circling roots down to that level. Yes it may leave a depression, but those roots need the O2. The tree will be fine with the depression. As for your "Arborist" they are either lazy and/or incompetent. What you got is what I typically refer to as "a monkey with a shovel". Arktrees |
|
| In my digging, I also found a root that sprouted out above the root flair but is growing outwards and not circling at all? Should I remove this one as well as it could possibley choke off the roots from the flair down the road? |
|
| I'd remove it. Eitherway you have to remove all the circling roots above the flare. Sraying with a strong stream of water will help exporse which roots need to be removed. Perhaps after you remove those take a pic for us? You can send that to the arborist as well (befor and after). Be sure to inlcude your address for them to include a check. As ark mentioned the depression is no big deal. It now allows a means for you to periodically check to ensure nothing is getting out of hand. |
|
| The arborist came to my house today to address my root situation. He removed some of the circling roots but not all. He said that we'll check next year at this time and remove any additional roots that are still circling. He said he didn't want to take too many roots out at one time because he didn't want to stress the trees too much. I asked about the location of the root flair and he said that because autumn blaze maples have such an agressive root system that go the surace, the location of the flair is probably okay and as the tree grows the flair will come more towards the surface. He also mentioned doing something about radial aeration in about 3 years or so to really help the roots establish. Does this make sense? Thanks. |
|
| If you went for surgery and later, after going in for a followup, found that the surgeon had sown you up with his dirty sock in the wound, would you go back to the same surgeon to remove the sock? Your "arborist" is not an arborist. I think Ark got it exactly right when he said you had a "a monkey with a shovel". |
|
- Posted by wisconsitom 4/5 WI (My Page) on Wed, Sep 12, 12 at 0:04
| Yeah, he's saying just enough right words to seem credible. But really, aside from the initial mistakes in planting the tree, the stuff going forward is off-base too. You're in there now. It only makes sense to do whatever you can for the roots now. Root surgery is not and should not be a yearly item! I do get what the guy is saying about that tree's ability to form large root flares and "push itself" up out of the ground. That's almost true. The fact that AB maple is the hybrid of two bottomland maple species does in fact mean it has relatively greater ability than say, sugar maple, to withstand soil, floodwaters, etc. up over its roots and root flare. But still, it simply should not have been planted that deep in the first place. Kind of messed up. +oM |
|
| Definitely "monkey with a shovel". Take care of it yourself now. Much better in the long run. Don't let this person talk you into ANYTHING. Anything we guide you to do now will be very quickly overcome by the tree at this young age. What your "monkey with a shovel" proposes will repeatedly set the tree back by some amount. So, do it now. There MIGHT be SOME reduction in canopy growth next year, but full speed ahead thereafter. But what I see, I doubt you will notice any reduction, especially if you do this in the fall. If your unsure or uncertain of something, then stop, take pictures, and come back here. Someone will guide you through it, and your trees will be better for it. Arktrees |
|
| I think I'm going to back in tonight or tomorrow after work and dig around the tree to see if there are any more circling roots. I'll probably also cut out any that are left near the surface. Where should I make the cuts on the ones I find that are circling? I'm thinking I find the point where it comes out of the rootball and cut it there? I'll take some pictures of daylight allows and put on here. Thanks everyone for your help. |
|
| Upon further review, I think the roots are going to need a lot more attention than what they been given. I did some digging tonight and there are lots of smaller roots growing in circles under the bigger ones I found. The arborist didn't really cut that many out. He was hyping a particular root that was going away from the tree and into the yard as a sign the tree was growing. However, tonight I found that that particular root while growing away from the tree, was making at least a quarter of circle around the tree before it started going outwards. This is above the flair so I'm thinking in time this could also hurt the tree. My problem is that I simply don't know what I'm going. I don't feel comfortable going in there and ripping out roots that are growing in a circle. I also don't know exactly how to get to the roots. Each time I dig deeper, I can tell I'm hitting smaller roots that may be fine. Any ideas or help would much appreciated. |
|
- Posted by wisconsitom 4/5 WI (My Page) on Wed, Sep 12, 12 at 23:44
| Centre, this is just my opinion, and others are likely to differ, but I would just cut those roots which are easily seen to be circling. Wherever roots are cut, they tend to initiate new root "branches" similar to how the top of the tree grows. Some of these can then be in a a position later to cause girdling. So I'd not go nuts. One other thing: While AB maple very likely has the ability to form girdling roots (When not naturally grown from a seed), it may just be that it doesn't negatively impact the tree all that much. One study I read long ago compared maples for their propensity to form girdling roots AND for the likelihood of this impacting the tree's health. Somewhat oddly, only sugar maple and Norway maple seemed to actually suffer to any degree, even though all species tested did form such root configurations. Also, while the tree(s) are planted too deep, and while this has resulted in the formation of roots above the root flare, it is not always absolutely necessary to remove same. This is a judgement call, and the decision will rest on how the tree is doing, how long a given root has been there, and other such factors. It is conceivable that, especially given the fact that AB maple is the offspring of two bottomland species, the tree(s) will be fine just as is. Bottomland species are generally more tolerant of such abuses as being planted too deeply, having fill placed over their root systems, and obviously, of being flooded for long periods of time. +oM |
|
| I tried to post more pictures but they wouldn't upload. I'll do it tonight from home but basically I've got roots that look like a bird's nest above my root flair. |
|
| I would remove all of those I could. Should be plenty below the root flare to support your trees. Arktrees |
|
- Posted by wisconsitom 4/5 WI (My Page) on Thu, Sep 13, 12 at 19:06
| Yeah, if it's that congested, probably best removed. Like I said, a fair amount of judgement comes into play. I was thinking more the solitary large root above RF, or maybe two or three of those. Sometimes it seems best to leave those be. But not a bird'snest worth! +oM |
Please Note: Only registered members are able to post messages to this forum. If you are a member, please log in. If you aren't yet a member, join now!
Return to the Trees Forum
Instructions
- You must be a registered member and logged in to post messages on our forums.
- Posting is a two-step process. Once you have composed your message, you will be taken to the preview page. You will then have a chance to review the contents and make changes.
- After posting your message, you may need to refresh the forum page in order to see it.
- It is illegal to post copyrighted material without the owner's consent.
- HTML codes are allowed in the message field only.
- No advertising is allowed in any of the forums.
- If you would like to practice posting or uploading photos, please visit our Test forum.
- If you need assistance, please Contact Us and we will be happy to help.