Do any tree species survive being planted too deep?

10 years ago

Unique situation. I have a small forest of Populus tremuloides, and planning to move two of them (14-15'). No cost, and worth the work to have a couple nice ones moved.
It is windy here and they will need serious staking for a year or likely 2+ depending on how they establish.

Now I fully understand how and why to plant trees at original grade with most any tree species. But how about species such as willows that readily sprout roots from wood? Might it help with faster establishment, in this case like an anchor in this windy location? Like tomato planting.
How about poplars? Would it hurt or possibly be of benefit?
Thanks.

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Comments (8)

ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
10 years ago
to anchor a tree that size.. you would need to be talking about burying it 2 or 3 feet deep... wouldnt you???

the poplar family grows so fast.. i dont know why you would fool around with that big a transplant... it will take years to get re-established

whereas one half the size.. would take half the time...

i know you want instant gratification ... but i would suggest you go for what is better for the tree .. it will be easier all around ...

no... i would not change the grade ... thats too much work to fail for that reason.. IMHO

ken
fireweed22
Original Author
10 years ago
I need wood strong enough to tie a rope to, at about 10'.
One 5 footer was planted three years back, looks like at least 5 more years until it's ready.
Yes I do want instant gratification, but only if it's likely to work. I am a tree nerd and know better, but this scenario isn't something I've ever heard of and figured might actually be completely legit.
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It's grafted. The adventitious roots are arising at the graft union which is easily visible as the slanted line of raised wood across the trunk that ties into where the new roots arise. IMHO, don't replant, and raise a small mound around it to the level of the new roots. O2 will still permeate to both sets of roots, and just let the tree sort out which roots it wants to develop. This is exactly what Jon was saying. It worked with his Sugar Maple, and SM is much less forgiving of being planted too deep IMHO than Red Maple, since RM is often on flood planes which means their roots can be buried/submerged from time to time. Arktrees
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Joshua, I'd like to answer your question directly: yes, trees can die suddenly. They can also die very soon after being planted too deeply. I'd have to say that it is the number one reason for decline and death in trees, at least in my career. Some years ago, I was called out to the large property of a high end retail complex, not a mall. The tree and landscaping installations were extensive, even extraordinary. I was called by the CEO to inspect the site about two months after completion of the job. The majority of the large trees were in serious trouble....after two months! The plants had all been planted anywhere from 6 to 8 inches below grade into a soil that stayed too mucky, too wet....especially at that depth. Tree roots must have oxygen at that shallow root zone...or they can die. Most of us know that the essential absorbing roots of trees are shallow. Planting too deeply impedes the development of new roots. So, the decline process can begin immediately and end swiftly......or a tree can languish for years before finally croaking. Trees that have been installed that deeply have been planted improperly, plain and simple.
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Tr, your question is right in my wheelhouse. So, on land I own which happens to be 60 miles north of my driveway apron, we've been afforesting what had been a farm field. Initially, I started with smaller numbers, perhaps 250 seedlings in a given spring. These I tried to do a Cadillac job with, watering, weed control, heck we even mulched the first bunch with wood chips! Fast-forward to 3 springs ago: We then finished up the job via planting 6000 seedlings with a machine planter. Well, prior to this planting, the farmer I'd been renting my land to had planted "Roundup-Ready" corn. The thinking, this on the part of a DNR forester I was working with, was that this would be an ideal start for the trees, corn leaving behind a relatively clean field. Hehe, not quite what happened. I'm not saying that guy was wrong, but the Roundup-Ready stuff means there's zero carry-over effect from the herbicide. Every-and I do mean every-weed seed in that field germinated in that first wet year. I had 20 solid acres of ragweed, higher than my head. When I drove down my lane right around this time of year, the pollen coming out of all that ragweed looked like smoke. good thing I'm not especially prone to allergies! Never saw anything quite like it. So, what to do? I quickly realized there was simply no way I was going to be able to control those weeds, so in partial desperation, made up my mind to ignore it and see if it would go away! Well, in one year over year period, that entire field transitioned from annual junk weeds to 100% perennial forbs and grasses, mostly giant Canada goldenrod and asters. I wish I could somehow indicate how crazy this transfer has been, but I kid you not-all of the annual weed junk went away after just the first year. So why all this talk about weeds, and nothing about watering? Well, for one thing, attempting to water all those 6000 new trees was utterly impossible. No attempt was made. As I said, we got some luck from the skies that first year, it being very wet. So no need to water.....ever. The following year was decent for rainfall too, and after just three growing seasons in the ground, I've got pine and larch "seedlings" that are now over my head. One note about Gal's statement to use natives: I generally agree with this, but if you're an expert on forestry, there are some non-natives that can be used to good effect. To wit, some of my planting-this in northeastern Wisconsin-consists of Norway spruce, one of my all-time fave conifers, and hybrid larch, about which I will only say, they are almost miraculous in terms of their growth rate.. I did also plant lots of native white pine, red pine, white spruce, and some others, as well as lifted native Thuja occidentalis from areas in my woods where it was coming up thicker than what would have survived, to be moved up into the field. All of these lived and are growing rapidly. But those are details. what you want to do is study up on large-scale planting of seedlings/plug stock and make your plans from there. You're not alone-thousands have done exactly what you propose-so no need to reinvent the wheel. Do you have DNR foresters or equivalent to work with in your area? I already knew what I was going to do-I'm not exactly new to this sort of thing-but the help was still valuable. Get back to us if you have more questions. As I said, this is really near and dear to me. +oM
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Smivies (Ontario - 5b)
10 years ago
Rope from 5-6' to anchors in the ground at least 6-7' away...3-4 should be enough. That's what the pros do for large trees. Burying the tree to anchor it is a very poor alternative. Even if the tree does survive, it will doubly impacted (reduced and suffocated rootball). Populus and Salix may be 'more' tolerant of deep planting but within reason...maybe 3-6".

Remove the stabilizing after 2 or 3 growing seasons.
edlincoln
10 years ago
I suspect some small shrubby trees that grow from runners might survive it. Beach Plum is OK with getting buried by blown sand, so presumably as long as the soil is sandy and not wet it could survive it.
mikebotann
10 years ago
I say go for it. Populus sprout from the trunk when buried. It's called advantageous rooting. I've seen Cottonwood trees buried over 6 ft. with floodwater silt and do fine.
Quaking Aspen should do likewise. What have you got to lose? They sprout up all over around an existing one and are readily available in most areas. Limiting their spread is the usual concern.
Mike
wisconsitom
10 years ago
Mike, I think you meant write adventitious rooting, no? In any case, the reality is that floodplain species are the most tolerant to being planted too deeply-elms, some ashes, willows, etc. Even then, I have to be honest, I think this whole idea is whack. Poplars are colonial. Any one stem is of little consequence to the "tree's" survival. Cut down a stand of aspen-what do you get? New aspen sprouts from the roots, thicker than the hair on a dog. Furthermore, as Ken has already pointed out, growth is so rapid on trembling aspen that size of transplant truly doesn't matter. Just find a sprout-you probably won't even be able to find a truly separately growing plant-and sever it from its parent root. Plant it and forget about it. You'll have a sizeable tree in five years, if not fewer.

I know, ask me how I really feel, lol!

+oM
fireweed22
Original Author
10 years ago
After thinking about it I can definitely see it rooting without concern, but once established the above ground tree quite likely failing (insect or disease hitting the underground trunk) and 20 sprouts coming up. Leaving me with plenty of regret.
wisconsitom
10 years ago
Yeah, that's what I'm thinking. Even then, the colonial nature of this species would likely mean a sprout or three (or six) coming up elsewhere, any one of which could be made into the new tree. But at that point, you would have done more work than is necessary just to get a popple tree started.

And don't think I don't like aspen, er popple. All good early-succession species tend to come in great numbers, live fast, and die young (in the big city) or in the countryside. But the colony persists, oftentimes in such a manner that all the action is out along the edge somewhere, the middle having died and that space having changed over to second-wave species that can take a little shade. All across the northland you can see that very dynamic in play: Maturing aspen, starting to deteriorate, but meanwhile, little spruce, fir, pine, and other species filling in at the ground level, able to get their start under the dying aspen matrix. Extremely commonplace, and a good thing it is!

+oM

Do any tree species survive being planted too deep?

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ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5

fireweed22
Original Author

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Do any tree species survive being planted too deep?

Comments (8)

ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5

fireweed22Original Author

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Smivies (Ontario - 5b)

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fireweed22Original Author

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fireweed22
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