proper tree well

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margolisr

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An arborist planted a good-sized ginkgo tree. about 3 in trunk, in our yard. Left no instructions about watering. In addition there is no tree well that is discernible. What kind of tree well should there be.
 
How was the tree planted? Was it a b&b (ball and burlap) or a container grown tree. Was it dug up from the wild or was it nursery grown or machine planted. How big is the root ball and is it staked. How long has the tree been planted? Need more info because this will affect how fast it roots in.
 
He's most likely referring to the watering berm around the planting hole. Set up a trickle system (soaker hose) to irrigate.


The biggest problem we had with people using a soaker hose on a newly planted tree is over watering. They end up drowning the tree or it gets root rot. Nursery trees tend to be on an irrigation system and are use to getting water on a regular basis. You have to ween them off the water slowly. Transplanted trees need to be nursed along and cared for properly or you could run into several problems.
 
The biggest problem we had with people using a soaker hose on a newly planted tree is over watering. They end up drowning the tree or it gets root rot. Nursery trees tend to be on an irrigation system and are use to getting water on a regular basis. You have to ween them off the water slowly. Transplanted trees need to be nursed along and cared for properly or you could run into several problems.
A little education goes a long way with customers about care of newly planted trees. Don't assume soil type in Tx is similar to Or. "Transplanted trees need to be nursed along and cared for properly or you could run into several problems." You don't say? All this time I've been tossing them in the ground green side up and letting nature take it's course. This site is so helpful.
 
A little education goes a long way with customers about care of newly planted trees. Don't assume soil type in Tx is similar to Or. "Transplanted trees need to be nursed along and cared for properly or you could run into several problems." You don't say? All this time I've been tossing them in the ground green side up and letting nature take it's course. This site is so helpful.
Down here there is a difference in soil types depending on location. I ran a Big Jonn tree transplanter, for 30 years we did a lot of container and B&B along with tree spade trees. Each requires a different aproch to how it is maintained after it was planted.Until the po responds with answers to my questions, I can't give any real advice. I have planted literally 10's of thousands of trees, and did the follow up and inspection of how they were cared for after they were planted. I haven't seen every thing but I have see plenty enough to there is a difference in when, how they were planted. There are tail tell give always that can indicates the status of how a tree is doing and how to correct Every situation is different and I need more info before I start offering suggestion's.
People tend to over water or not. Soft willow leaves could indicate the condition. Dry leaves could indicate not enough water. Most transplanted Planting the root ball. al to high is just as impora
 
Thanks for all the smart responses. I have the ability to do drip and will do that. I have included pictures of the tree and situation. I'm afraid I did set a hose and it and flooded it. That was followed by about an inch of late snow. So I will leave it alone for now. It hasn't leafed out so no indications of how it is doing. The tree is guaranteed however I want to work on making this one successful. Unfortunately I didn't think about watching exactly how it was planted. Live and learn.
 

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I planted trees for a living for 30 years. You can check the tree even though it doesn't have any leaves. Simply take your thumb nail and scratch the bark on the outer ends of the branches and see if there is any green underneath. I would also check the root crown and make sure it's right at ground level. If it's too low and you put to much dirt or mulch on top it will suffocate and or hold too much water. Better high then low.
The best way to water a new transplant is to probe the soil with your finger to see how wet or dry it is. If it's wet, leave it alone. If it's dry just lightly water it, (do not soak it) You may have to water several times a week depending on how well the soil drains or how much rain you get.
From the looks of it my bet is it was a container tree from a nursery. It may have been on a drip system so I would very lightly water it every other day for a few weeks and slowly taper that off to every third day, then every 4th day till it gets use to less water. Remember, your not trying to make it grow at this point. Your simply making it survive. Reducing water slowly over time will force the roots to go deeper and that will help anchor the tree and help it become drought resistant. If you ad mulch, just put about an inch (no more) You can ad more mulch later as the tree roots in. You don't need to build a water ring around it as long as you water it regularly, but test the soil before you water first, it might not need it. Do not put any fertilizer on it till after it's rooted in, (at least not for 6 months). Fertilizer will only burn the fresh cut roots and cause more damage. Snow contains very little water so don't think snow will provide much moisture. Always probe the soil with your finger first before you ad any water. Once it leaves out you can test the leaves for moisture. New leaves are gonna be soft and supple, but after they get older you can use them as a guid. Yellow leaves that are soft and spongy indicate to much water. If there dry and crunchy then it needs more water. Sometimes a newly transplanted tree will go into shock and drop all it's leaves. Thats ok don't be alarmed, test the branches with your finger nail to see if the branches are alive. The leaves should come back. If the leaves turn yellow or brown and are hard to pull off, then it's probably gonna die. Give the tree a good shake and if the leaves fall right off, it should recover. If they don't fall off and are hard to pull off, then the tree may die.In that case you can strip all the leaves off by hand and that may help it survive the shock. If it sits there for a few years and does not grow, you can force it by shocking it. You can shock it by stripping off all the leaves and scrape the bark in a few places and kinda be ruff with it. SSlap it around a bit. I know it sounds funny but that will shock the tree and it will be forced to recover and then it should start grown again.
 
Lots of good info here as usual. Just my opinion but from the pictures I think that is not a good location for a Ginkgo. Too close to sidewalk and street. They do get large. Also, is it male or female? The latter creates a stink when the leaves and berries drop in the Fall.
 
Lots of good info here as usual. Just my opinion but from the pictures I think that is not a good location for a Ginkgo. Too close to sidewalk and street. They do get large. Also, is it male or female? The latter creates a stink when the leaves and berries drop in the Fall.


Many of the subdivisions that I have planted trees in have a deed restriction that there must be at least one yard tree and one curb tree.
Some of the subdivisions require 2 and sometimes 3 yard trees and one or more curb tree between the sidewalk and curb. I agree there is not enough room for that many trees in such a small yard or gap between the sidewalk and curb. But thats what they have mandated and you and I know this will cause concrete damage down the road when these trees mature. But hey, I just sell and plant the trees. Once mature a single live oak tree can have a spread of 50 feet in all directions and one tree will cover the entire yard, But that what the deed calls for so there will be concrete slab damage in the future. Damn HOA's that know nothing about trees requires it so what can you do.
Places where I have planted that many trees in small yards over 20/30 years ago have no grass because the trees make too much shade for and grass to grow. And there are places where concrete damage is already happening. I have even seen where the trees has already caused damage and the mature tree has to be removed, only to require me to replant a new small tree and the cycle starts over again. I just don't understand why they can't get that through there head, but hey, I sell more trees so I'm good with that.
 
@Raintree
It’s nice seeing you back here. It seemed as if you were gone for a while...always helpful responses from you!
@ATH you always have helpful responses too.
You two are fantastic resources. I’ve learned a lot from reading your posts. Never any snarky comments and always helpful and to the point.
Thank you.
 
Many of the subdivisions that I have planted trees in have a deed restriction that there must be at least one yard tree and one curb tree.
Some of the subdivisions require 2 and sometimes 3 yard trees and one or more curb tree between the sidewalk and curb. I agree there is not enough room for that many trees in such a small yard or gap between the sidewalk and curb. But thats what they have mandated and you and I know this will cause concrete damage down the road when these trees mature. But hey, I just sell and plant the trees. Once mature a single live oak tree can have a spread of 50 feet in all directions and one tree will cover the entire yard, But that what the deed calls for so there will be concrete slab damage in the future. Damn HOA's that know nothing about trees requires it so what can you do.
Places where I have planted that many trees in small yards over 20/30 years ago have no grass because the trees make too much shade for and grass to grow. And there are places where concrete damage is already happening. I have even seen where the trees has already caused damage and the mature tree has to be removed, only to require me to replant a new small tree and the cycle starts over again. I just don't understand why they can't get that through there head, but hey, I sell more trees so I'm good with that.
Wow, never heard of anything like this - crazy. I'm surprised they don't specify unacceptable trees.
 
Wow, never heard of anything like this - crazy. I'm surprised they don't specify unacceptable trees.


Most of the time they wanted 1 pine tree and one oak in the front yard and 2 oak curb trees. If it's a corner lot it gets 1 pine and one oak in the front and 3 pines on the side with 4 curb trees 2 in front and 2 on the side. Some of them even got 2 back yard trees. So a single corner lot house would get 11 trees in total. It all depends on the subdivision. We would machine plant 2, 4'' to 6'' trees and the curb trees were 30 gallon container trees. Some commercial jobs we would go in and relocate what native trees that were there and stage them in an out of the way place and after the flat work was done we would go back and put them back. I did that for 30+ years and planted tens of thousands of trees,
 
This arborist site is a treasure. The city of Portland, OR has an acceptable list of trees for a parkway site of this size. This is the most upright, slowest growing tree on the list. Plus it is the tree my husband liked and since he doesn't often express an opinion about the garden, I chose this one.There is now a drip line to the tree. I wanted to have as much sun as possible for a few years. I am 79 years old so lets see how tall and wide I manage to see in the tree growth. It is a beautiful specimen of a tree, or so I think with my uneducated eye. The city makes very strange choices like a leyland cypress planted 9 inches from the corners of the fence in the backyard. A ridiculously poor choice. Portland does work to preserve our tree canopy so I appreciate that.

Anecdotally, the previous old cherry tree (which, at my husband's request, I was successfully keeping alive) was knocked out by a car driven by a young woman neighbor who was speeding down the street in her hot vintage Mustang. She and her boyfriend in a separate hot cars were speeding and taking cell phone pictures of each other at 8 pm on July 4th last. She lost control of her car, hit a car at the curb next door to us, shoved that car into my car at the curb in front of the tree. My car ended up 3 doors down. Her car and the neighbor's car hit the cherry tree. The woman wasn't wearing a seat belt. She hit the windshield. She's fine except for a few minor injuries. All 3 cars were totaled. The cherry tree trunk was half dead so it went over easily probably reducing her injuries considerably. It was certainly a neighborhood event.
 
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