Root ball.

[Gerbutt]

Taking the hessian and wire of is definitely a no no. And as said either cut or leave the wire. Only cut the wire when root ball in position.

 

 

Yes reading further on the net just now and it does say to leave the hessian on. I'll mention it to the chap next week.

[Paul Barton]

The tree root system you have posted a picture of is poor, probably due to late or no undercutting in the nursery field. The rootball should have more small fibrous roots than that to give the tree a fighting chance of actually being able to move water and nutrients from the soil to the crown.

 

It's a shame that so many people still leave hessian and wire on rootballs when planting. Why on earth would you do this?! Surely we want the tree to develop a root system that spreads laterally in to the surrounding soil that it is planted in, not whirl round and round a subterranean cage.

 

Here's an extract from BS8545 which is all about tree selection, preparation, planting and post planting maintenance:

 

The removal, where feasible without root ball disturbance, of wire baskets, hessian and twine used in the rootballing process ensures that that future root development is not inhibited, once the tree is positioned in the planting pit. When left in place, hessian and twine can remain strong for several years and this is long enough to cause serious constriction in the basal stem area. Wire baskets can last for as long as 30 years after transplanting. Where a wire basket is left in place, the top of the root flare usually grows into one of the horizontal upper wires and roots become girdled as they develop. This causes the transport of water to the stem and carbohydrates to the rest of the root system to become restricted.

[Gerbutt]

Thanks for that Paul. I was working today with a lad who's a consultant and he was talking about that British standard. He'd recently done a day at one of the colleges about it and he said that some of the pics of poor stock were the same as the one I've posted here.

[Paul Barton]

Unlikely as it sounds, the standard is a good read and full of good diagrams.

[Goaty]

Did you go check them all??

 

I can verify the metal baskets are weak steel and soon rust away, working on a nursery, they dont last long enough for handling purposes. However I think its a good idea to cut the top part off once its in the hole and part filled as the top part tends to get more twists and double thickness areas when binding them. Also the top tends to stay drier and rot slower.

 

Hi

 

I've been helping a friend now and then on a landscaping job and it got to part where the trees were needed. The customer ordered a few pleached hornbeams and they came with sack and wire round the root balls. The root balls looked a good size but when we took the sack and wire off to plant we were left with this

Name: ImageUploadedByArbtalk1418415087.819999.jpg Views: 86 Size: 51.9 KB

I've not planted trees before so not seen what they should look like but these look as though they have just been hacked!

 

Kept sturdy, hornbeams respond well to root pruning. If they rock they may struggle.

 

Is this what you'd expect?

As for being hacked back the rootball lifting machinery is a glorified Ice cream scoop that vibrates through the soil, cutting a spherical ball whatever is in the way. Some rootballs collapse when lifting and are basically a bareroot tree wrapped in fine soil, The irony is most trees are grow on fine soil which is better for growing whereas heavier soils stay ballshaped better.

 

I expressed my opinion as did others about rootballs in a thread on here a while back. http://arbtalk.co.uk/forum/landscaping/55620-rootballs-versus-bareroot-your-opinions.html

Edited December 12, 2014 by Goaty
Details

[treeseer]

Looking at the image, one wonders at the expense of moving all of that extra dirt.

Paul yes the UK standard is far better than the US but they both agree on removing the packaging. Nursery people in the US intimidate buyers not to remove, in many cases so their poor product stays invisible.

 

I've found wire decades old in the soil, but it's not quite as damp here...waiting until the plant is set to remove the top parts seems to make sense, but...

If the packaging covers the flare, how does the planter know how deep to dig the hole?

Dirt on stem tissue is a big No No.

[The Jackel]

Did you go check them all??

 

Off course!! but from experience of having them sat in the yard for a season or containerised for planting the following it is always apparent that the wire has rusted away and the hessian rotted. It is far better IMO that the root ball is not disturbed at all as this can damage any fibrous root that is crucial for the tree to establish. I do think that the picture shown has little or no fibrous root and does not look like it has every been undercut/ root pruned in the time it has been growing in the field.

[david wood]

would be unhappy if i bought that, doesnt look like much fibrous root at all.

 

work has luxoury of a nursery area where we buy smaller specimens or propogate our own and line then out. biggest ones are planted yearly around now and then everything else is dug up and re lined out.

 

this allows us to do several things, add compost/dung/leaf mould/whatevers going spare to now empty rows, fill in holes with fresh soil then rotovate it all in.

 

does mean we have well fed growing area and that things are undercut yearly and develop fantastic rootballs.

 

specimen in photo is more like something i have had to remove with tractor and chain to take to burning area.

 

so a good nursery should be able to produce much better than that in my opinion. yes costs will go up a bit but much better end product is worth it.

[treeseer]

Totally true re root cuts. It's the same as with branches. Fibrous roots are not always needed. Root systems can be pollarded when they are exhumed, and do well. Those roots were lopped imo.

 

Here' the new US standard; see pages 15-16 re diameter

 

http://americanhort.org/documents/ANSI_Nursery_Stock_Standards_AmericanHort_2014.pdf