Just for the record here, I feel the need to clear-up some previous stated comments that I made concerning the work I was having performed on some of my trees.
First off, the person who was working on the root girdling problem I had/have with my trees is/was not a certified arborist as I believe I had earlier stated. This person has (primarily) done this type of work for a certified arborist (his employer) for about four years now. I say that ONLY to set the record straight with everyone, NOT that I personally feel this particular person needs that certification title to make him an expert in his own field… ‘cos I do believe “on the job training” is where a good percentage of useful knowledge is gained and put into practice. This past week I had the privilege of watching him meticulously work on a dozen or so trees over a two day period. I personally felt he was doing an excellent job ‘cos… well, for instance, for one thing… if he had to pull a rope or wire (portion of left wire basket) through some intertwining roots, he’d make sure he didn’t pry directly on any of the surrounding roots. If he needed a fulcrum, he would make sure there was some form of protection inserted there so no tool would damage and dig into a root that was to be saved. Sure, being extra careful takes additional minutes… which ultimately means more out-of-the pocket $$.$$ from my end, but the end result is that being extra careful doesn’t put any undo or additional stress on the tree.
Secondly…
I used the word “tree spade” as the tool he was using to perform this type of work. The terminology that I was told is correct for this particular tool is a, “tree knife”. I was told there is a difference… can anyone explain or show me a picture of what an air spade really is? Not only that, but how and why is it used… for what purposes, etc.. In fact, the fellow that was doing my work for me said that on more than one occasion he has come in behind someone that had used an air spade and the root damage was extensive that he found. From what I could tell, the air knife is basically a tool that has air zipping out its end at about 850 mph. Needless to say it is a noisy process that sends the soil and mulch a flyin’!
Also…
Another aspect I didn’t know about planting a tree was that once a hole for a new tree has been dug to its proper size… with flare of tree being discovered and noted beforehand (… NOT where top of root ball is!!), like before ever getting the shovel dirty, is that a person should sorta chop into the outer circumference wall of the hole to make it a jagged/rough surface, and not leave it as a smooth surface…. as a shovel might leave its cut into the soil. I was told that if the surface is left in too smooth of a condition, for lack of a better term here, I was told that that surface can become “glazed like” with some soils… hence, making it a hardened surface that the growing roots of a newly established tree will not wish to penetrate. Case in point; I had a Sweet Gum that had two separate roots (on opposite sides of the tree) that had made an abrupt U turn and headed back the other direction! If possible, I will attempt to share a picture of one U-shaped root with everyone later on.
The other day, when observing yet one more excavation in progress, there was this root (Aristocrat Pear) that looked like it had just abruptly ended. Now have you, this root was some 3 or so inches in diameter. From the angle I was looking at it it sorta looked like what one would see if they were seated in a chair, looking down at one of their knees. You know, when looking at it from that angle it just kinda drops away. Anyway, the feller that was doing all this work said that he bet that if he blew out some more soil in that vicinity there that he’d find a wire that had altered the course of that particular root. Sure enough, just below what we could see at that point in time was this little ole wire that had caused the root to take a deep downward dive to who knows where!
Anyway…
Thus far I’ve had 22 trees “air knifed” and another 15 or so that should be examined as well. Before going forward further with anymore work the ole piggy bank will have to be re-fed a rich diet ‘fore that can happen anytime soon! Only four or five of those remaining will probably have a wire basket buried there amongst their roots. If I hadn’t seen it with my very own eyes, it’s almost unbelievable just how much havoc a left behind spindly rope… a wire basket… can completely alter the natural network of a rooted tree. And once the tree has been stunted as so… where it is primarily “existing” and not doing all that much positive “growing” into a healthy mature tree, it becomes so vulnerable to such numerous prey out there!
Wishing everyone a most safe and joyous fourth of July!
mb
First off, the person who was working on the root girdling problem I had/have with my trees is/was not a certified arborist as I believe I had earlier stated. This person has (primarily) done this type of work for a certified arborist (his employer) for about four years now. I say that ONLY to set the record straight with everyone, NOT that I personally feel this particular person needs that certification title to make him an expert in his own field… ‘cos I do believe “on the job training” is where a good percentage of useful knowledge is gained and put into practice. This past week I had the privilege of watching him meticulously work on a dozen or so trees over a two day period. I personally felt he was doing an excellent job ‘cos… well, for instance, for one thing… if he had to pull a rope or wire (portion of left wire basket) through some intertwining roots, he’d make sure he didn’t pry directly on any of the surrounding roots. If he needed a fulcrum, he would make sure there was some form of protection inserted there so no tool would damage and dig into a root that was to be saved. Sure, being extra careful takes additional minutes… which ultimately means more out-of-the pocket $$.$$ from my end, but the end result is that being extra careful doesn’t put any undo or additional stress on the tree.
Secondly…
I used the word “tree spade” as the tool he was using to perform this type of work. The terminology that I was told is correct for this particular tool is a, “tree knife”. I was told there is a difference… can anyone explain or show me a picture of what an air spade really is? Not only that, but how and why is it used… for what purposes, etc.. In fact, the fellow that was doing my work for me said that on more than one occasion he has come in behind someone that had used an air spade and the root damage was extensive that he found. From what I could tell, the air knife is basically a tool that has air zipping out its end at about 850 mph. Needless to say it is a noisy process that sends the soil and mulch a flyin’!
Also…
Another aspect I didn’t know about planting a tree was that once a hole for a new tree has been dug to its proper size… with flare of tree being discovered and noted beforehand (… NOT where top of root ball is!!), like before ever getting the shovel dirty, is that a person should sorta chop into the outer circumference wall of the hole to make it a jagged/rough surface, and not leave it as a smooth surface…. as a shovel might leave its cut into the soil. I was told that if the surface is left in too smooth of a condition, for lack of a better term here, I was told that that surface can become “glazed like” with some soils… hence, making it a hardened surface that the growing roots of a newly established tree will not wish to penetrate. Case in point; I had a Sweet Gum that had two separate roots (on opposite sides of the tree) that had made an abrupt U turn and headed back the other direction! If possible, I will attempt to share a picture of one U-shaped root with everyone later on.
The other day, when observing yet one more excavation in progress, there was this root (Aristocrat Pear) that looked like it had just abruptly ended. Now have you, this root was some 3 or so inches in diameter. From the angle I was looking at it it sorta looked like what one would see if they were seated in a chair, looking down at one of their knees. You know, when looking at it from that angle it just kinda drops away. Anyway, the feller that was doing all this work said that he bet that if he blew out some more soil in that vicinity there that he’d find a wire that had altered the course of that particular root. Sure enough, just below what we could see at that point in time was this little ole wire that had caused the root to take a deep downward dive to who knows where!
Anyway…
Thus far I’ve had 22 trees “air knifed” and another 15 or so that should be examined as well. Before going forward further with anymore work the ole piggy bank will have to be re-fed a rich diet ‘fore that can happen anytime soon! Only four or five of those remaining will probably have a wire basket buried there amongst their roots. If I hadn’t seen it with my very own eyes, it’s almost unbelievable just how much havoc a left behind spindly rope… a wire basket… can completely alter the natural network of a rooted tree. And once the tree has been stunted as so… where it is primarily “existing” and not doing all that much positive “growing” into a healthy mature tree, it becomes so vulnerable to such numerous prey out there!
Wishing everyone a most safe and joyous fourth of July!
mb
