Proper way to plant a tree ?

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I tell ya Dan, I clean up after a lot of people on my job.

I don't get what you are saying at all. What I am saying is that how do you find yourself pulling the wire off of small dead tree root balls? Why did they die? They must be small, small enough to pull out of the ground and take to the dump. Why did such small and new trees die?
 
I don't get what you are saying at all. What I am saying is that how do you find yourself pulling the wire off of small dead tree root balls? Why did they die? They must be small, small enough to pull out of the ground and take to the dump. Why did such small and new trees die?

Maybe because you asked it too many questions!
 
I don't get what you are saying at all. What I am saying is that how do you find yourself pulling the wire off of small dead tree root balls? Why did they die? They must be small, small enough to pull out of the ground and take to the dump. Why did such small and new trees die?
They probably died because the burlap and wire cage weren't tight enough :hmm3grin2orange:


[/sarcasm]
 
Worst new tree installations I've ever seen---

I bid a job out at a fairly new development outside of town, yesterday. What I saw there was unbelievable, to me: All new tree trunks were buried 2-3 feet under mulch and dirt, and there was one three inch pvc pipe stuck in the ground, at each tree, down to the level where the actual burlap ball was. I asked the homeowner at the place I was at, how this came to pass. He told me that he thought the dirt guys and tree guys came in at the same time, but I doubt it. These are newly installed trees, not pre-existing ones. In order for this goofy set-up to occur I think this happened: Some big-time tree sales/installation company got antsy waiting for the dirt contractor to come in and dump and grade each site, so the trees were planted on the sites in the native soil, totally disregarding the fact that each site was going to be raised 2-3 feet with new soil. Then some genius came up with the pvc pipe idea, even though this set-up is normally only used when a well must be created around an older, valued, pre-existing tree and the area around the tree raised a good deal. Then, sometimes for safety reasons, the well is filled in with mulch and dirt and the pvc pipes used to provide more ventilation to the buried trunk. Even so, many tree do not thrive under the mulch and dirt. This method is not favored, according to most research I've read up on. To plant new trees and then bury their trunks under so much mulch and dirt is surely handing them a death sentence within the next few years, pvc pipe, or no pvc pipe. It is nuts to plant new trees this way. In the past, I would write to the developer to point out what had been done during their watch and offer to correct all improper installations. At this development, we're talking about two thousand installations, or so, that would need to be dug out and planted correctly. This would be a big-buck gig. Experience has shown me, though, that most developers really don't care and will resent the heck out of someone who tries to offer help to save their trees. They want to get their developments done, get their houses sold, and then move on to exploit the next nice, unspoiled tract of land. They let the buyers worry about the issues a little further down the line. They won't even contact the original installer to correct the problem. The trees die and the homeowners replace them.
 
Sunrise Guy,
That sounds like every developer-initiated tree planting that I have ever seen. I wouldn't be the least bit surprised if it was the one planting the trees who put them that deep. I hope you are right though...that it was the dirt guy's fault and not the tree guy's fault.

I'll also throw in...at least these are new trees, and not existing large trees. Around here whenever a new development goes into a woods, the trees are burried with 12-18" of fill. The developer sells nice looking lots then everybody wonders why their trees are dead 5-10 years later. For some reason they are reluctant to blame it on the developer :dizzy: , so of course the developers aren't going to ever care.
 
Sunrise Guy,
That sounds like every developer-initiated tree planting that I have ever seen. I wouldn't be the least bit surprised if it was the one planting the trees who put them that deep. I hope you are right though...that it was the dirt guy's fault and not the tree guy's fault.

I'll also throw in...at least these are new trees, and not existing large trees. Around here whenever a new development goes into a woods, the trees are burried with 12-18" of fill. The developer sells nice looking lots then everybody wonders why their trees are dead 5-10 years later. For some reason they are reluctant to blame it on the developer :dizzy: , so of course the developers aren't going to ever care.

At 2-3 feet below present grade, to the top of the root ball, it would have been just about impossible for the tree guy to begin the installation at that depth. That is, the root ball is installed below the 2-3' of mulch so the hole would have been dug into the mulch, down to that depth and then below that to the bottom of the hole needed to set the tree. The mulch and dirt are of a composition that would not lend itself to being dug into but, rather, piled onto the tree after the soil was brought in and built up around the area surrounding the pre-planted tree.
 
we're talking about two thousand installations, or so, that would need to be dug out and planted correctly.
Doesn't Austin have a tree ordinance? Take a picture of one tree, unburied to show the problem. Then look up the ordinance that covers planting, and cite the # that is violated. Write that up, briefly, and send it to the urban forester, the mayor, the editor of the newspaper, and the builder.

You will see action.
 
Originally Posted by treeseer View Post
Which grower made this statement?


Makes one wonder if that is all it said, or if more of the sentence was on the bag regarding "while moving".

Fortunately, the synthetic burlap material has virtually vanished from the nurseries in this area here. And if the burlap is treated, it must not be too heavy duty, because it is deteriorating in about 24 months and allowing new roots to grow through.

The synthetic burlap was one of the main methods here in the mid-80s.

Hi Treeseer

I could not find anything telling who the grower was. I picked them up at a Sams Club for $17 a piece. They were cheep and I just figured its better to get a tree started growing than not.

Howdy M.D. Vaden

Thanks for all the posts on the Redwoods. And all the other help you give. Looking at the "bag" closer its more of a woven string bag. I took a picture of the tag and some of the bag. Its a little hard to read but you should be able to make it out.

normal_IMG_0372.JPG


Billy
 
Just think about the reaction 50 years from now when they're digging up all of the plastic bottles...

Man if the cans were in good shape you probably could have made a fortune with beer cans of that age, very collectible!:givebeer:

Arbor Pro

Its hard to believe whats thrown out. It was hard for me to watch some of the stuff being buried. Loads from home centers I seen many pressure washers generators power drill sets all being dumped because it was dented or returned and it was easier to through it out than fix it. Loads of steel that should have went to the scrap yard just thrown out. Hundreds of train loads of clean dirt dumped in the landfill because it was easier to dump it there than haul it somewhere else.

Todd

All the beer cans were pretty well smashed. Did find some cool old bottles though. Of course I did not have time to sort through anything.
 
Doesn't Austin have a tree ordinance? Take a picture of one tree, unburied to show the problem. Then look up the ordinance that covers planting, and cite the # that is violated. Write that up, briefly, and send it to the urban forester, the mayor, the editor of the newspaper, and the builder.

You will see action.

The last time I did that, at a new installation, it took six months to get any action. I had to write so many e-mails and make so many calls that I vowed, "Never again!" I may get involved out there, but I'll see if I get more gigs in the area. It's actually not in Austin, so dealing with some podunk city council and its regs may be even more frustrating than what I went through last time, in Austin, which is a very tree-friendly city.
 

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