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| Has anyone ever had issues with container-grown trees, years after planting, "sinking" down and ending up too deep? I can see this happening because most potting mixes are so high in organic matter, that as that OM decomposes, it sinks down, and there is little real structural integrity of that mix over time. Can planting a few inches "high" in the hole alleviate this? |
Follow-Up Postings:
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- Posted by ken_adrian z5 (My Page) on Tue, Nov 27, 12 at 12:40
| hey joe ... i bare root all my trees .. because in my sand ... two divergent soils [the potting media vs the native sand] .. kills things ... [anything under 6 foot.. and in total dormancy] otherwise the sand wicks all the water out of a potting media ... and once dry.. a lot of peat based things.. will NEVER re-wet ... also.. trees in pots are usually horribly pot bound ... so bare rooting them.. allows me to get rid of all those circling roots ... also .. with trees.. you really should not amend your soil.. so there is never a reason to dig below pot level ... its usually when you fluff the soil under.. that that soil then settles and takes the plant with it ... if i do go too deep.. i usually jump in the hole.. and really compact the soil that will be under ... tree roots really do go sideways.. not down.. also.. in clay. which is known in OH ... a lot of peeps do plant 'high'.. for drainage reasons.. ken |
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| "Has anyone ever had issues with container-grown trees, years after planting, "sinking" down and ending up too deep?" Very common problem discussed here frequently. "I can see this happening because most potting mixes are so high in organic matter, that as that OM decomposes, it sinks down, and there is little real structural integrity of that mix over time." Most plants that are too deep were planted too deep to start with. This can start with the grower, be exacerbated at the nursery (when plants are repotted), and then made still worse at planting. The more common cause of actual sinking is, as Ken mentioned, the hole being dug too deep to start with, although there are also cases as you mentioned. Below is a guide that you may find helpful when planting woody plants. Related topics are covered, especially in section 4. |
Here is a link that might be useful: Planting a Tree or Shrub
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| Here's a related question I've wondered about - for our esteemed tree experts. A large tree clearly weighs a lot. I can understand that most soils are well compacted and weigh a lot themselves. But take an area that's a slowly draining swamp or boggy area, as sometimes happens because of a change in water course or whatnot. A tree like a maple or swamp oak germinates and starts growing. In 50 years time, I sometimes wonder, why hasn't the weight of the trunk caused the tree to sink down 2-3 feet? If you'd had the same area kept clear of any trees for 50 years, and set a steel weight of several tons in that very spot, my intuition tells me the mucky organic soil should compress. So, do trees roots sometimes not only provide "anchoring" but "holding up" as well? |
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| David, I have noticed that some trees tend to push the soil "up" as the roots below ground get larger, especially in close proximity to the trunk where the roots should be the largest in diameter. That might counteract the appearance of sinking. Just think how large the roots below ground are after 50 years occupying space that used to be solid soil. It has to go somewhere. I'm sure it becomes compressed somewhat and the only direction it can move to relieve the stress/compression is up, right? John |
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| Oh crap, you intended that for esteemed tree experts! Above is just an arbor enthusiast's musings. |
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| "So, do trees roots sometimes not only provide "anchoring" but "holding up" as well?" Yes, at least sometimes. I've seen photos of tree bases where erosion had washed the soil away from the base of the tree, so that there was literally air/open space up under the tree bottom/root flare. Yet the tree was held up by it's large roots. Don't know how common that is, but it can happen. Richard. |
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- Posted by strobiculate none (My Page) on Wed, Nov 28, 12 at 20:25
| so why doesn't the weight of all the construction of a large city cause the world to alter the degree of spin on it's axis? why hope for peace in the middle east when men and women still haven't learned to get along? and the truly important question...how many licks does it take to get to the center of a tootsie pop? |
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| Per the FAQ on the Tootsie website. It depends on a variety of factors such as the size of your mouth, the amount of saliva, etc. Basically, the world may never know. |
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- Posted by wisconsitom 4/5 WI (My Page) on Wed, Nov 28, 12 at 22:18
| If you google yellow birch images, you will surely find numerous photos of this tree holding itself up by its roots, this after the old stump that it started life on has since rotted completely away. So there's that. +oM |
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| Strobiculate, you don't find this conversation interesting or worthy of consideration? Personally, I think the questions are pretty reasonable, and even more reasonable than many others I see on here. BTW, as to large things changing the Earth's rotation, that does happen. That dam in China, for instance, supposedly made our days 0.06 microseconds longer than before and shifted the Earth's poles by 2 centimeters, but back to the topics at hand... As +oM said, roots commonly hold up trees in cases of erosion. Larger roots are pretty rigid, so it's not really surprising that they are keeping trees from sinking much, when you think about it. And, I'd bet that in cases of saturated soil, even large trees do sink somewhat (maybe even noticeably). I can't recall hearing of such an example, but then again who's out there measuring these kinds of things in such situations? |
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