Girdled roots

[David Humphries]

Noticeable straight away is that the girdling here is coming from nieghbouring vegetation. (young ash)

 

Removed the offending girdles & the young ash.

 

Should buy time and hopefully a lesser competed rooting environment.

 

 

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[David Humphries]

Not girdling here but a different kind of root damage.

 

Before looking at the above girdling oak, we investigated a reported root lifting issue.

 

London plane next to a paddling pool (approximately 7m away)

 

Water pipe had been trenched in, running through the rootzone of the tree, across the tarmac & up in to the pool enclosure.

 

A plane root had sought out the void and grown along the whole length, pushing up the pipe, causing the surface tiles to be dislodged & inturn becoming an uneven surface & tripping hazzard next to water.

 

We've removed the offending root & are considering a root barrier where the trench stops at the pool side of the path to prevent future issues.

 

 

 

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[armybloke]

Nice pictorial story there David and good info for any future work to be considered.

[treeseer]

Nicely done; could go with solid material, or bio-barrier tm may be better as it would allow air and water movement.

 

4 points of action on the Maclura were not ordered, thankfully! I did not want to be the one to lift those panels. i doubt the city will order any more works on the tree, unless someone sounds an alarm again. Most municipalities here not as proactive as London it seems.

[David Humphries]

Nicely done; could go with solid material, or bio-barrier tm may be better as it would allow air movement

 

Any idea how long the 'trifluralin' in the bio-barrier lasts as an active herbicide ?

 

Hadn't heard of that system before, looks well designed and fit for purpose.

 

 

 

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[David Humphries]

Amazing dogleg on that adventitious buttress-turned-girdler--what made it turn like that do you think

 

What you can't see in the images is that the trunk was originally a pair (often found with Wild Service Trees)

 

It's neighbour has long fallen over and may have been close enough to have had an impact on how and where this girdle orientated.

 

The trunk is also completely hollow.

 

 

 

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[treeseer]

Removed the offending girdles & the young ash.

Should buy time and hopefully a lesser competed rooting environment.

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On the buttress, it's likely that bark will become included as it laps over into that groove from the top. Compressed bark in the groove will take years to break loose, under pressure from expanding cells underneath. There's some question here whether this is a likely problem. but being a possible problem, why not scrape off compressed bark? just a thought; not common practice here that i know of.

 

also what is the backfill material and how is the composition and placement determined?

[David Humphries]

On the buttress, it's likely that bark will become included as it laps over into that groove from the top. Compressed bark in the groove will take years to break loose, under pressure from expanding cells underneath. There's some question here whether this is a likely problem. but being a possible problem, why not scrape off compressed bark? just a thought; not common practice here that i know of.

 

also what is the backfill material and how is the composition and placement determined?

 

I think I understand your description (and benefits) regarding the removal malformed bark, but not sure that I would want to potentially open up the phloem & vascular cambium to the elements from being over vigorous in removal of said 'likely problem'.

 

Interesting point to consider though

 

 

 

Back fill was what ever was suitable & at hand, at this particular site.

(a few miles from my yard)

A mixture of decomposing bark mulch & soil.

 

Create a hole - fill a hole

filling all voids and air pockets, back to original soil level, trying to not cover the stem...............kinda gig

 

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[Ruskins Trees]

Fantastic thread. Are there any cases where it can be proved that "un-girdling" has resulted in an improvement in tree health. I'm not doubting it helps.

[David Humphries]

Fantastic thread. Are there any cases where it can be proved that "un-girdling" has resulted in an improvement in tree health. I'm not doubting it helps.

 

Keep watching the thread, I'll update it over the next 40 years or so

 

 

Have a look into Gary Watsons studies on roots

lots of interesting case studies out there.

 

http://joa.isa-arbor.com/request.asp?JournalID=1&ArticleID=2576&Type=2

 

http://joa.isa-arbor.com/request.asp?JournalID=1&ArticleID=2153&Type=2

 

http://www.mortonarb.org/images/stories/pdf/research/watson/girdling_root_formation.pdf

 

 

 

I think Guy (Treeseer) is perhaps best positioned to answer this one.

 

 

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