College of Agriculture and Life Sciences
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Getting to the Root of the Matter
Structural root systems of landscape trees that are too deep can cause stress and even death. According to Bonnie Appleton, professor of horticulture at the Hampton Roads Agricultural Research and Extension Center, this problem is everywhere, and it continues to be a significant issue despite numerous, easy control strategies.
One of the most effective methods of preventing deep roots is to bare root the trees by removing the soil from the roots at planting time, explains Appleton. “Bare rooting provides you an opportunity to prune the root and remove defects, as well as allows you to plant the tree at the appropriate depth,” she says. “Our industry may be going full circle. Years ago trees were primarily planted bare root, but because people want to plant more tree species at various times of the year, production systems such as B & B (ball and burlap) and container-grown trees were developed. Those systems have introduced problems related to tree roots.”
Jim Flott, a consulting arborist and owner of Community Forestry Consultants of Spokane, Wash., approached Appleton about conducting research on the various tree-root preparation methods. Flott, an advocate of bare root planting, had developed a tub-soak method of removing the soil or container substrate from the roots.
In addition to the tub-soak method, Appleton’s research compared several other techniques including power washing the roots, removing the top of the wire basket/burlap/twine from the tree, and excavating the soil out of the roots using high-pressure air.
“Our research shows that the time of year when the tree was planted relative to the tree species was much more critical than the root-preparation method,” says Appleton. “We found very few differences between the different techniques.”
Landscapers are embracing the practice of bare root planting. Although they have to spend more time preparing the roots before they are put in the ground, there are tradeoffs, Appleton points out. “They don’t need as big a hole to plant the tree,” she says.
There are additional economic benefits as well if the trees were actually available bare root from production nurseries. The industry could save transportation costs by shipping the lighter-weight bare root trees instead of the B & B and containers that are weighted down with soil.
Appleton says that more research is needed to further define recommendations for the different tree species. She plans to expand the research to investigate various types of root treatments that would accommodate the difference in the time of the year, particularly relative to root desiccation.
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| Bonnie Appleton demonstrates the method of power washing a tree root ball to remove soil from the roots. |
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