This is EXCELLENT advice. I planted a tree about 25 years ago whose roots were encircling the trunk and literally strangling it. An arborist advised corrective action to preserve the beautiful, but declining, live oak tree about five years. Believe me, it's much, much cheaper to take corrective action when planting. Also, it's far less traumatic to the tree, though my tree is once again looking great.
I'm guessing you had to dig down and cut radially into some of the root diameter. I'm wondering how I'm going to do it, because a friend of mine didn't do what I instructed, and he just plopped it in the hole. The only good thing is that it was a very resilient Catalpa tree, and those things can grow between garages, and fencing and junk. Can I ask how the problem of encircled roots was remedied?
@@1voluntaryist Don't be an idiot. The question i asked someone else, was about what their arborist suggested to them, on the subject of a poorly prepared planting that was seriously suffering. I know how to plant trees. I have a friend that didn't know about root strangulation, and I asked someone how they fixed their problem, so I could help my friend.
@@MATTINCALI I sometimes buy the clearance trees from Lowes or Walmart, and one was this Catalpa that I gave to a friend, and it's doing well, inspite of it's condition from being in a container from the nursery, and sitting in the store awhile. I told my buddy what to do, but he didn't prepare or trim the overgrown root ball. I guess Catalpa is a forgiving species.
One of the things that my Dad taught me is that once you have dug the hole, 3 x the size of the root ball, and before you put the tree, shrub or plant in the hole, fill it with water, let it drain away and then do this two or three times. That way, the roots stay moist and have access to water for the first few days. We also put a handful of appropriate fertilizer in the bottom of the hole. Using this method, we have NEVER lost a plant and they have always got off to a good start. Even planting in Summer here in Australia.
One thing I might point out is that the soil was very heavy and wet clay. If you have soup like this and add too much water you can get root rot as it won't drain, especially if you don't mound it up. I have clay that is super dense and it's a big issue
Good suggestion. This is the standard advice here in the southwest U.S. since we have a very dry climate. In very wet climates it might not be necessary or beneficial.
@@mikecurry6847 yeah it works well. i would suggest washing them out away from the hole or else it gets all soupy. also once you are content with how washed out they are, don't be afraid to move the roots around so that they go outward.
I had to do this as a last resort when planting a couple late starts. Aside from washing away the potting mix (which has essential nutrients my newly tilled sandy soil needs), it turned out to be an incredibly efficient way to expose those tight roots. Wish I hadn't waited to the last 4 pack to try that out.
101 When you dig a hole put the dirt on a tarp instead of walking on it and killing the grass. You will leave the job clean that way. The root bags can also be removed and reused rather than cut away.
I worked in landscaping, and always kept the site tidy and myself tidy. Would never leave tools lying on the ground . I find it difficult just looking at this mess.🙄 . But he is correct in teasing out the pot bound roots. I'll give him that much 😂👍
@@noelduffey2395 and I bet you are better than everybody else too huh?? Tools laying around? Keeping myself tidy while working? 😂😂 come on dude, stop being fake
Water is fine instead of air spade. Less shock to tree. Nursery industry should offer discounts to root bound trees. Planting smaller trees that are not root bound is way to go, but is not part of commercial nursery industry. I have planted 3’ trees that were equal to or bigger than 8’ ers after 3 years because they did not shock out.
Preach man, this problem is pervasive. It’s a self induced tree epidemic. Find the flare is what I tell people. There are hundreds if not thousands of trees planted too deeply in my town and the surrounding towns. It’s not just the girdling roots that kill the tree, it’s the fact that trees breathe through their root collar, and when it’s covered they suffocate. Also, the trunk rots when in contact with soil.
Agreed. It's got to start with growers/nurseries because when they up-pot they just lay more potting mix on top of the grade instead of filling it at the bottom first and when they are ready to sell, plants usually have 2-3 years worth of mix built up at the top. It also doesn't help that there aren't more education about root pruning circling roots. It's ok to cut back a lot of the roots (1/4 to 1/3) via box cut method and not just slices around the root ball. Hardened circling roots will continue to circle even if you slice through it. You gotta cut it way back. It may seem devastating and slower to establish, but it will be healthier in the long run.
@@dkbomb yep exactly what I do, cut off the top 2-3” of the root ball, usually with pruning clips and sometimes even a saw, until you find the root collar and flare. Just gotta be careful to not hurt the root collar.
I think people are going too far in the other direction. I never seen a tree grow in nature with their roots this high up, barely covered by mulch only. My neighbor planted his tree like this last year and it looks like shit with a bunch of die back. Granted I don't know what else he did when planting it, but I've never seen trees grow like this in nature. People are basically planting trees half way in the ground now with just a sprinkle of dirt to cover the roots, that's not how these trees grow naturally.
@@bobbygetsbanned6049 neither extreme is optimal, however if I had to pick one over the other, it would be planting too high because you can easily add soil around the base of the tree, and roots naturally grow downwards. In heavy wet clay it’s recommended you plant high, because of moisture and lack of oxygen. “Plant too low and it’ll die slow, plant too high and it might dry, plant just right and watch it take flght.”
As a farm kid we learned the way to kill an existing tree was to pile dirt around the base and cover the flare, two years later the tree was dead and we would cut it down, buck it up into pre dried firewood.
Great video. Shows the difference between a “garden center” planting when they just drop a tree into a hole and someone who actually knows what to do and does it right.
I like to auger out a two foot deep by one foot wide hole. Then use half compost,half black soil to fill in the bottom half. With any conifer,since I am out on the prairie loam clay soil,I add gallon of iron Swarf (cuttings from a lathe or milling machine) from my Machinist friend and two gallons ash to the hole mix. The spruce trees in my yard point their branches at the perfect upward angle and are beautiful. The one I didn’t add Iron or Ash to is arthritic looking and lacking the proper posture. You see spruce like that all the time out here. The deep hole allows the roots to penetrate deeper and easier for water. Cheers from Sunny Alberta!
Very good knowledge based video. Man I have heavy clay in area. Usually have to do exactly like you showed 3x or 4x wide hole. I always thought deep was needed as well. Thank you for an awesome post.
Great visual! Thanks for sharing…..you really explain it well!! I would imagine this holds true for many plants, trees or shrubs that go from container to ground!
I learned the folly of buying saplings 50 years ago from a good friend who owned a nursery he sold when he learned trees grow BEST from seed planted directly in their permanent home. Also, he shielded the sprout with a clear mylar cone, hole at the top, watered once. The seed caught up with a 3-year nursery tree in one year. And no root to untangle, no special hole, no fertilizer. I add heavy wood mulch to avoid bare ground eco-system, hold in moisture, encourage fungi. Some trees have tap roots, some trees have roots that grow laterally, spreading out near the surface. This calls for watering that meets their uniqueness.
We have heavy, black turf clay. We've learnt to make a tree planting hole 1 metre x 1 metre and square with very sharp corners, this lets the roots fill the planting soil and eventually escape at the corners. Round holes cause the same root ball as being in the nursery bag/pot.
Hole shape doesn't matter. The problem actually starts with the roots themselves. Hardened circling roots will continue to circle because it was trained that way in the pot and now have muscle memory to continue to grow in circles. You have to cut back the roots heavily (20-30%) and not just slices through the outside. The ''box cut root pruning method'' done by a few universities is a good pruning technique to thin out the older and hardened circling roots and allow new feeder roots to grow freely.
hi, are you doing that just because the soil is heavy clay? I'm in France and our soil is heavy in some places, clay-limestone, so I'm wondering if by planting trees in round holes I wasn't wrong??? But roots are strong and I hope they will not get stuck against a clay wall as it happen against plastic contenant :).. Especially is the "wall" is softened by the weekly or monthly watering? You made a point :) so now I'm wondering 🤔
I with my over 50 years of experience disagree about the square hole. There is absolutely no difference in the growth of a tree planted in a square or round hole.
So informative 🙏 So living in a tourist town, coffee grounds are ever available and their process of growing the right fungi underground seems to a rate these clay soils so well. We have very little soil covering volcanic rock here, so feeding and adding earth that washes through with the rains and drought irrigation seems to bring it further into the volcanic gravel beneath. The tight clay that exists in between though is where the coffee helps so much. Your videos are very educating and I try to share them from my ♻️ Forests 🌳 playlist, but don't always get to RU-vid. Certainly worth the sharing and thank you.
Ive always pruned off about a 1/3 of the roots when i put in a fruit tree thats been in a pot to long.i dig a larger circle than a deeper hole,and always put a can of sardines in water underneath. The only fruit trees that ive ever lost were i believe because it rained nonstop for over a week right after i planted....lost a nectarine and a plum.
Love this. Makes me realize that I planted a couple of our crepe myrtles wrong in the past. They’re healthy, but haven’t grown almost at all compared to when they were planted. And my mom way over-pruned them right after planting.
Crape myrtles are really forgiving plants. I have some that I have been actively trying to CUT DOWN and they just keep coming back, growing several feet PER MONTH. So they're great for making your mistakes when you start out.
I always transplanted trees in the fall,after they have gone dormant for the winter. Way better survival rate when you do. The shock to the trees is very minimal when planting in the fall. Then come spring , the tree can wake up and do its cycle normally.
thanks man i am from a farm orchard and a keen gardener you have confirmed what i always thought going to be much more careful now with roots and planting
Useful vid, thanks! I'd be interested in a followup short vid that talks more about the staking at the end of the process. EG, how to attach the wires to the tree without concentrated pressure (from the wires) on the wood. Thx.
I just blast all of the soil away with the hose next to the hole. And I only use the soil that I dug out of the hole to backfill with. I also found that if I have some stubborn soil or mulch that won’t easily come off with the hose will come out if I dip the entire root ball into a large bucket and swish it around. I am essentially planting a bare root tree by the time I’m done.
Good advice to use only the natural soil if possible . The client expressly wanted us to use amended soil in this case, but it’s debatable if it’s better or worse for the tree after planting.
You aren’t wrong but I think there’s massive amounts of water storage in the soil so therefore it’ll drain over time. Whereas the ring of mulch retains dirt and that’s why rot happens. Just a lad that likes plants
These videos from professionals are quite funny They use tools that are not common to public The process is entirely too long for such a simple task I have an orchard Planted with its own soil Never added much but a quick layer of wood chips over the top when planted and trees are growing fine You don’t need an airspade - waste of money and time You don’t need to put down potting mix nor top soil You use the same soil you dug out You can grind the original soil by shovel or hand to break into smaller chunks I would not advise mixing in a different soil THAT will just cause more shock to roots once it finally hits the original soil The broke man’s method proves time after time This is nothing more than paid propaganda from corporate being carried out voluntarily by the enslaved
@@silcarifarm7067He said at the beginning that this was an educational video. I thoroughlly enjoyed that he took his time and actually showed what he was talking about.
@@silcarifarm7067Agreed. “Nutrient rich soil” is a glorified way of saying compost. Trees don’t grow in ground up dead trees, mushrooms do! Grow trees in real dirt (sand/silt/clay). Fertilizer, compost, mulch, it all belongs on the top.
What’s the harm in planting deep? Town has been planting shade trees between curb & sidewalk, a mere 2’ distance. Surprise… sidewalks lifted, busted, curbs displaced, not to mention damage to planting beds and lawns. Thinking extra deep properly amended soil, adequately drained may allow root growth without this surface damage. Thoughts?
Love your video! Leads to another question (in addition to some of the great questions/comments below): What are you thoughts about pruning some of the branches to balance the pruning of the roots? I've been using this method in Western Colorado, and it seems to work well for me in this dry climate.
ISA doesn’t advise it unless they are broken or damaged branches. Reason being root stimulation and growth is affected by plant growth regulators produced in branch tips. Also, more leaves, more food, more energy. Try to wait at least one season after planting.
I love being able to see all the roots in the root ball- so rad! I'm an arborist as well- but I work in a different region with a different type of clay soil. According to ISA materials I was always told that gravel being added to the hole doesn't benefit drainage. Now I heard you say that the gravel was to reduce compaction...I sorta get that, but also I'm in the midwest so I'm not sure if this varies from region to region.
@@juliosdiy3206 This is a very late reply sorry, but figs fruit better with restricted roots (similar to Agapanthus flowering). I don't know why this is but I've heard it said many times now
excellent video. I've planted about 60 fruit/nut trees in southern Arizona and have had so many arguments with people about whether or not to amend the soil around the root ball. Our soil is compacted and devoid of organic matter so its hydrophobic, but also fast draining. Adding some manure and compost to the soil has made a huge difference in the results I've seen so far.
I've got dense, heavy clay & have also worked with sandy soil too. I make slash & burn pits the year before I plant trees, direct ground sowing or raised beds to condition the soil to hold onto nutrients with bio-char. David the Good's channel shows & talks about this more in-depth, especially since he's growing in sandy conditions like yours.
I had to eventually remove two beautiful maples that were about 10+ yrs old because of root girdling. Seems obvious whomever planted them just dug a hole and dropped them in it.
Why destroy the planter bag? Those bags are not cheap and that bag looked perfectly reusable. I'm new to this red clay soil and have to wonder if you amend the soil around the tree does that prevent it from sending roots into the clay? Will it treat it's hole like a giant pot and stay within?
I don't know but that's what I have read, don't amend the soil because the tree will treat it like a pot and not want to grow it's roots into the native soil. I don't think that's specific to clay soil either.
It’s much better to use the natural soil or at the very least mix it into the amendments well. The danger of creating a “bowl” is very possible and very bad. More reason to make sure the tree is planted (and the root ball settled) above the soil grade.
Bang on concerning root collar and planting depth. If only there was ANSI 60.1 to tell us how we shall plant so us arborists didn’t have to go around Siri g RCE’s amd similar. Curious why you added amendments? I like that you mixed them instead of just filling with them, but couldn’t that still create an interface of desired soil and cause potential girdling in the future?
Plants can survive being torn apart quite a lot so long as they are planted in proper conditions after, in fact a little bit of trimming can do a lot for their health.
Of course big tree should be treated w care like bonsai, roots should always be radial! Great vid, now I know why tree in newly purchased house is poorly, it was planted badly. Thank you!
Yeah, Nice Information! I never had this in sight! Since one year i usually make the rootball free from most of the soil and try to make long roots a bit more lose. A nice and easy method to get rid of the soil is to raise the whole bag as high as possible and just push and drop it on a flat surface. Maybe you wont need even cut the bag apart! U can stomp on it and roll it a little.. Its fast, easy and effektive... Well, but if the Roots Are too much there are just some options like ur method from this Video! Simple Watering and weaging in a big bucket or water pressure and after that cutting out for some Airholes
Wish i had known this a month ago. We just planted Eastern Redbud a month ago. It had a 2 inch trunk and the root ball was huge wrapped in burlap. So far it is still doing well.
Great video. My soil here in Oklahoma looks exactly like that... compacted clay. It seems like the clay would cause problems because it drains so slowly. The hole could fill up with water like a giant bowl. And in the spring, it could rain every other day filling the bowl back up before it could drain. Wouldn't it drown the roots? I thought about getting a trencher and cutting a trench from the hole to downhill somewhere, then back-filling with gravel to give the bowl a place to drain.
I've dug the downhill drain trench, and I think it helped. I have also made the bathtub in clay, but the trees were resistant to drowning, and they were water lovers. I planted a Bald Cypress in a zone 5 or 4, because of elevation in New York state at over 1,100 feet, and it took off and is doing great. I also did this with River Birch and Red Maples, that are a swamp loving tree.
Nice to hear someone talk about not compacting the soil so the roots have an easy time growing. The air thing kind of blew me away but it looked to me like this tree should have been planted a year or two earlier. {edit} I rewatched and also appreciate his attention to the root flair ("Crown" in my world) and keeping that point level with the existing grade.
I just planted 4 trees about that size 2 weeks ago I wish I saw this before just dug oversize holes and mixed soil with potting soil and native fertiliser didn't go deep just wide didn't touch the root ball at all is there any thing I can do now or is too late
I was advised many years ago to put a watering tube down the side of the roots so that you are watering to the base of the roots and not the top. Then the roots go down and up in search of water. That 'soil' looks terrible.
The first thing I noticed was the swim goggles....for the tree planting. Ok...is this Arborist'nado? But you're elbow deep, caked in dirt/mud, and talking about the tree, it's root structure and how it works...and giving great advice on "do this for a healthy tree" #WellDone
Try to limit pruning to only damaged or broken branches (for the first season). Root development is positively affected by tree branches and shoot tips.
On the strength of this comprehensive video, I have just subscribed to your channel. As we all should know, there are right and wrong ways to do ANYTHING and it’s no wonder we see so many dead new tree and bush plantings performed by Joe and Jill Amateur! 😮😢😂
I’ve never seen any other videos on this. I gave clay soul as well. I wonder if this is why my fruit trees don’t seem to thrive. I may just replace them and had this method
Question: I see so many good live large grown trees torn out of the ground by severe storms. To me they don't look like they were panted deep enough. They all have a shallow wide root ball.
Great question, but it’s a misconception to plant the trees deeper. Uprooting has to do with root injury or rot, or otherwise very compromised soil conditions (like loose soil beside a river bank, or very sandy soil). In clay especially, roots cannot grow deep, because there is no oxygen, so they will grow shallow regardless. Even if you plant them deep, they will circle back and try to find oxygen. It’s a myth that tree roots grow deep underground. Almost all the fine absorbing roots of a tree are in the first few inches of soil. Keep a root system healthy, avoid major root injury (like from construction damage), and you are very unlikely to have a tree uproot in a windstorm. The exception may be the soil is very sandy or otherwised structurally compromised (by a lot of rain, new drainage patterns, etc). Sometimes trees can outgrow their sites. They become too heavy for the soil volume they have to support them.
If I don't have an air spade can I use water ? How do you select a new tree at the nursery to prevent included bark from happening? Any pruning tips to get a good form with solid branches when the tree is newly planted?
You have some great questions. I have a pruning video up on the channel. Yes you can use water. Not high pressure though just reglar hose water. Included bark is from V-shaped branch unions or codominant stems. Prune to correct those when the tree is young. Check out my other videos for some more tips.
Nice video, quick and to the point without wasted time. Thank you!! A quick question, I don't have an air spade so would the next best thing just be a hose with water or do you have other methods?
Put the whole bagged root and the tree on its side and roll gently while standing on the side. It will loosen up the roots and you won't have to cut the perfect bag like he did.
I came looking for this comment because I know I wasn’t the only one wondering the same thing. I would think a pressure washer wouldn’t work as well as a hose because you could use your hand at the same time manipulating the root ball.
There are a lot of trees near me that were planted high and look like shit with tons of die back. They are all probably going to die. I think people have taken "plant it high" as levitate that bitch above the ground, salt bae on some dirty and call it a day.
I wonder: if the tree isn’t planted perfectly vertically, will it be not quite vertical for the rest of its life? in other words, should care be taken to make sure the tree’s as upright as possible?
Old wood doesn't correct it's direction of growth, so if it's important to you, keep correcting the angle as you water it into the soft settling soil. I have trees that were blown over a little, by heavy winds and I hope the growth will average out, and appear straighter after many years. You can see how trees do this, if you look at boards while doing wood working. The pith, or first years can be all curved, and the later years grow and adjust to support the mass.
I was always taught to keep the original dirt against the roots because there is some bacteria or something that the roots needed, does removing all the dirt like that harm the tree?
