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Girdled Roots on Cherry Tree

16 years ago

Is it too late to prune these girdled roots on my Yoshino Cherry tree? Let me clarify that I did not allow this to happen (I blame the previous owner of my house)!! The tree was planted in approx. 1992 and is now about 20' tall. If it is too late, will these roots eventually kill the tree?

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Comments (4)

pinetree30
16 years ago
These roots comprise only a small fraction of the root system and their removal by cutting away portions of them should not affect the tree. I doubt that leaving them will much affect the tree either, but if you worry about them "girdling" the tree, have at them.
Embothrium
16 years ago
Friends have a snakebark maple that is clearly being killed by just one similar girdling root. Do saw off those smaller, superficial (above ground), wrapping ones you can get at. However, this will not correct the heavier ones in the ground - it looks like most of the main roots are caught in a tornado.
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Trees and other plants are not an exact science or our jobs would be easy. We look at all research, make the best decision we can, and hope what we do works. Even a tree that is perfectly planted and cared for can; though rarely, develop girdling and nasty cross roots. OP said that most of the trees he was concerned about are young which gives them good chance of recovery with root treatment. Sure the OP may loose some trees to the root surgery but left alone with the problems he described they have little chance of growing up to be nice trees. I have worked with both scientists, businesses and the public and scientists do work in a different thinking zone. They present facts that in science are definitive to them, that is just the way they think. The research that they do has to be used and considered by us, but is not always practical to the real world in which they do not live.
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james, Roughly where are you? Zone 10 should not have cold enough winter temps to worry about damaging the root system. As for what you did, I don't like the tar ideal at all. The tree will have to grow new roots, and those start from the pruned end of of the cut roots. Putting tar on these could very well interfer with that process, not to mention hold moisture that would favor infection with various bacteria and fungi from the soil. No, I don't like it AT ALL. Beyond that, some shading from direct sun would likely be very beneficial. Would certainly reduce water stress while new roots generate. Keeping the soil cool and moist but not wet would be beneficial as Im sure you know. Judging from the pic, that probable won't be an issue. As for Acer gresium, they actually seem to be more forgiving to girdling. I have seen where trees were kept in those tree band pots for too long and been potted up. Those roots had actually grafted on top of the original flare, and the tree was non the worse for the experience. I assume since the bark is so thin and sheds annually, that this facilitates the grafting. If you look online at mature Paperbarks, I don't believe you will find many with indications of bark inclusions at branch points. I know I don't remember seeing any despite some tight angles. That also would seem to suggest that they self graft freely. Arktrees
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Comments (6)
I think you have done the right thing and you may well be OK. Here is what I know, or think I know about girdling roots and maples. First, they can be a big problem and are often fatal. That said, every case where I could determine that a girdling root was killing a tree, the girdling root was around the trunk at or above the root flare. If one root circles another root lower down I am not sure it is a problem, but frankly I have never dug up any dead maple to determine if anything like that killed it. But my theory/idea is that any root below the root flare of a trunk that may be locked up with other roots will generally graft with them and not cause a problem. But a root that crosses the trunk of a tree--at or above the root flare--will not, by itself, develop a graft and defeat the strangling. This may be because the kinds of cells above the root flare are different from what is in a root. Or at least there is some incompatability that prevents grafting, it seems. So, if you keep an eye on these trees as they grow, and if as the roots grow and the trunk gets bigger and bigger, you see some root that seems to be at that time close to the trunk at or above the root flare, you can cut it then. Of course if you could do a little more of what you have been doing and discover any more roots that could be a problem later, cut them. Of course, if the root flare is below the soil, remove the soil to expose it. No, definately don't lose any sleep--you are on top of the problem now! Girdling roots seem to kill a number of kinds of trees. Hickories like maples seem susceptible. But my Norway spruce and white pines in my forest stands often have roots crossing and or partially circling the trunks above the root flares, and these trees graft to them and grow right over them and it seems not to hurt the trees at all. --Spruce
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Comments (7)
You know, I've been thinking about this post a lot. I am tough on my plants and trees. If my maples looked like that, I'd water pretty hard. Then I'd start carefully digging around them. I'd definitely cut this root. It looks like the planter didn't spread out the root system at all, plus, all the new, hair-like roots are trying to grow up and over this one. And that circled root looks like it's been growing around, inside a pot for quite some time. I'm willing to bet if you leave it, it'll eventually choke the tree. What's the condition of the tree itself? Is it thriving? Good leaf condition? Those pictures just don't look healthy.
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jgertson
Original Author
16 years ago
Thanks for the tip. I see this happening all over my community on public property - along with suckering and crossing branches. I guess it's not in the budget for most homeowner associations to hire arborists to properly prune the trees every few years. Instead they neglect the trees and then eventually hire "landscapers" who end up butchering the trees.
Embothrium
16 years ago
Growers often leave trees in pots too long, do not correct root deformities when potting on. Balled-in-burlap stock may be grown in pots before being lined out in field, or grafted onto rootstock that was grown in pots. So buying a field grown plant may not side-step root deformity problem at all. In addition to general carelessness about potting on, seems to be an idea that since potted rootstock is going to be used for rootstock it can sit in a small band for perhaps years and not be potted on - it's just rootstock, afterall. This is why so many small grafted conifers and other items so propagated are staked when purchased, even though they are not vines. The corkscrew rootstock they are trapped on can't hold up even a little 6"-18" top.

"The circling, girdling, kinked, and
hooked root systems often found in containerized plants occur frequently with B&B materials,
too. Nearly every B&B tree I have purchased and installed, either in my own landscape or as part
of a project, has had serious root defects."

Here is a link that might be useful: Myth of Collapsing Rootballs

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