Colorado Blue Spruce ?????? root type.

[stihlatit]

Hey guys I think it has a tap root with some spreaders but not sure. Can anyone confirm for me please. Thx for any responses.

 

[Tom Dunlap]

CBS has one of the flattest, dinner-plate root systems of any tree that I've seen. After windstorms there are almost no sinker or anchor roots.

Tap roots are only found on a few trees. They're generally in places where there are deep water sources.

A true tap root becomes a sinker or anchor root soon after the tree is established. Think of this...after a storm or lot clearing, how many 'carrots' have you seen coming out of the bottom of root balls? More common are a gob of roots but not a single root.

 

[stihlatit]

Thx Tom. I know a regular spruce has the fine root system spread along the surface. I was not sure about the Blue Spruce if it was the same. Google has very little to add. I have to assess one this afternoon that the owner says is leaning a little. Will see how much and go from there. The root system off course being a important part of that assessment.

Arnie

 

[antigrassguy]

SITE CHARACTERISTICS :
The shallow roots of blue spruce restrict it to moist sites where water
is close to the surface [75]. Blue spruce occurs on montane
streambanks; well-drained floodplains or cobble flats; first-level ravines; intermittent streams; or subirrigated, gentle slopes

http://www.fs.fed.us/database/feis/plants/tree/picpun/all.html