Root Flair ID

[whitenack]

For you all who have read my other post: I have noticed some whitening of buds on my dying oak tree! Joy!

following this forum's advice, i have tried clearing the mulch away from the tree trunks to see if i could expose the root flair. How do you know when your there? Or, is it obvious, and i just haven't found it? Will there be a significant flair?

On the maple, I came to small roots, but no significant widening of the trunk. Should i keep going? Can i do damage going too deep?

On the oak, i have dug 4-6 inches, and still no flair. It does get wider, but no flair.

 

[Jay Banks]

It sounds like you have to dig deeper. There is a marked increase in the diameter at the base of a tree. Next time your in the woods look (really look) around at the base of the trees. You will see the root flare.

You may have to dig down 12 inches to find it.

 

[whitenack]

thanks for the info.
I dug out the oak, and found the flair. It was quite a ways down. 9 inches to be exact. 2 inches of mulch and 7 of the root ball that came from the nursery. I could see where the buried part was not as healthy. You could see the mark that the soil had made. The trunk was slightly wider above ground.
That brings up another question for me. Now that i have dug this 9 inch hole around the tree, is there anything i need to worried about? The dirt is hard clay, and i am sure if we get a good rain, water will pool in the hole. Any concerns?

After digging out the oak, I moved to the maple. Just below the surface, i saw that it has started to grow little roots. Should i keep digging and cut these in the process, or should i call it quits?

thanks for all the help!

 

[Jay Banks]

Since the tree was improperly plant 9 inches to deep you will always have a depression around this tree. You should now remove the soil around the tree to a depth of 9 inches, out a foot or two from the trunk. this will form a basin around the tree and prevent the excess soil from washing back over the root flare. Then mulch and keep the mulch away from the trunk of the tree.

As for the maple, all you are seeing is roots that have sprouted in response to the trunk being buried (adventagous roots). They were grown to compensate for burying the root ball. You can cut these away from the tree and continue to excavate to the root flare. It is best to remove these roots now because they could become girdling roots in the future (yet another topic).

 

[whitenack]

Hey thanks for all the help. One last question though...

The maple was buried deep. 12" deep. I came upon a few good sized root ends on my way down. When i dig this hole 1-2 feet around the trunk, i assume i will run into more of these. What do i do with them?

While i was in the mood, i worked on my trinity pear (i guess it is a part of the bradford pear family). It was not buried very deep, just a few inches. It too, had quite a few roots exposed during the dig.

I know now what causes it (watering right on the root ball). What should i do, if anything, to correct it?

Thanks again!

 

[treeclimber165]

Originally posted by Jay Banks
As for the maple, all you are seeing is roots that have sprouted in response to the trunk being buried (adventitious roots). They were grown to compensate for burying the root ball.

Unless I missed something in my few 24 hours in arboriculture, I don't believe 'watering directly on the rootball' has anything to do with advantagious roots sprouting from the trunk of a tree buried too deeply. The trunk being buried with soil causes the tree to stress, and the tree tries to compensate by sending out new roots from the (buried) trunk. Burying a tree too deep can also cause compaction of the soil in the root zone (which is now too deep), which can suffocate the roots. Loosening (airating) the soil around the tree can help compensate for this unnatural condition.

 

[treeclimber165]

Just saw another good article on this in this month's TCI magazine. Page 8.

 

[Kneejerk Bombas]

Small roots that originate above the flair, should be cut off cleanly at the trunk. In some cases, the advantitious roots have become a large percentage of the roots, in this case it becomes a judgement call. It may be necessary to leave these roots and let them form a new root flair.
Roots that originate at or below the flair, should be laid out and buried.
You may want to just dig the tree up and replant it at the proper level, a very stressed plant might not survive this.
If you decide to start over, ask for a replacement, wholesale or not they sold you a defective plant. This time look for a root flair before you buy.
Watering of a new planting should be done mostly at the ball. Soil tests have shown that this area dries out much faster than the surrounding soil and water has trouble moving from surrounding soil into the root ball. This is one reason many new plantings are underwatered, the soil is checked just outside the ball and it feels wet, but inches away inside the ball, it's dry.

 

[Jay Banks]

Brian, Mike:
All ggod points. I would try like heck to work with the tree I had and correct these problems and monitor the tree closely. Re-digging a stressed tree in summer is a no win situation.

Recover of maples is pretty good once these problems are corrected and now we have one more educated consumer to spread the word.

LET THE FLARE SHOW!!!!

 

[whitenack]

ok,

I have dug out around the root flare 24", but i have not uncovered any roots. Should i keep going til i find roots, or should i stop here?

Thanks a million.

 

[Jay Banks]

From the flare out the roots should desend below grade. Possibly 18-24 inches deep, up to as much as 36 inches. The fine feeder roots then grow off of these roots in an upward fashion to within a few inches of the surface.

90% of the feeder roots are within the top 6 inches of the soil.