Girdling B&B Tree

9 years ago

I am need of a sanity check.
I planted a 1.75 inch Jefferson Elm tree in April of this year and at planting removed approximately 3.5 inches of soil from the root ball after finding what I thought was the start of the root flare.

It had a strange almost circular shape to it, but I had I figured that it was probably where they had grafted the tree and was just happy to have not planted it based on the height of the rootball. It looked strange but innocent enough to me. Just today, I decided to remove some more soil to have a better look at what was going on and see if there was a more pronounced trunk flare below this.

What I found was surprising (at least for me). It looks to me to be clearly circling roots as if it had been previously container grown, and what I thought was the graft appears to be a large root that is immediately circling the tree trunk. Chances are this tree will die from DED or a new Elm epidemic before it reaches end of life, but I was not looking for a tree that would grow well for 10-20 years and then die from these structural issues. I can handle it dying from a disease or other tree ailment as that is a well know risk of planting an elm tree but it is upsetting to plant a long lived tree that is already doomed due to improper nursery practices. I would rather just remove it now and plant something that has a chance to live for many years. My questions are....

1) Are these girdling roots and were they likely cause from this tree being initially grown in a container

2) would a reputable nursery stand behind replacing this tree due to these clear issues and

3) if they will not replace this tree (chances are the replacement would have the same issues), should I attempt to correct the root issues myself and see if the tree will survive, or is this too far gone and should I just move on and plant something new

I had to special order this tree as it is not widely available and I wasn't able to inspect it prior to purchase and delivery.

Thanks for any feedback/opinions!
Steve

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Comments (12)

hairmetal4ever
9 years ago
That looks horrible to me. Likely beyond repair. Many B&B trees are planted out from container grown liners.

P$$es me off.
brandon7 TN_zone7
9 years ago
1) Yes
2) Yes, even reputable ones that don't normally do replacements. This is a very inferior/defective product.
3) It doesn't look "correctable". You could take care of the smaller root (towards the top of the picture), but the large one along the bottom will have to stay as-is. It's hard to tell from the picture just how bad it is. It's bad, but it could be anywhere from kinda bad to just plain awful. Also, you might could work a little on the smaller roots growing from the larger one. If they continue wrapping around the trunk, they need to go, if possible. The more of the circumference that is girdled, the more of a potential problem your tree is facing.
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I usually "rootwash" small container stock (band pot to 1 gal size, sometimes up to #5) if I am planting during the dormant season - esp. early spring. I'll also do it in fall even if there are still leaves, as long as the weather is cool (mid-Oct or later here) since by then the plant is essentially "ready" for dormancy, even if leaves haven't fallen just yet...slightly premature leaf loss is usually trivial in my experience. Sometimes I avoid it if the roots are very dense and fibrous, since it's hard to fill in the soil, but for fleshy rooted plants it works well. Larger plants it's possible, but harder without a second person there to help stabilize the tree as you fill it in. I usually shake gently and let clumps remain - if there are a few feeder roots in a nice clump I don't necessarily take off the media if nothing appears dead, crisscrossed, or circling in that particular clump. I find that, among other things it accomplishes the following: 1. Better contact with native soil. No "interface" issues (the small clumps of potting media notwithstanding, but they're usually small enough to not pose an issue, and in fact help prevent root dessication/damage to feeder roots). 2. Better anchorage. Once the soil settles in (which should be ASAP if you water properly) the tree is nearly as well-anchored as it would have been if grown on-site. No "ball and socket" issues that you get with both container and B&B that keeps original soil/media intact. 3. Examine and correct root deformities. Many times, circling and potentially-girdling roots can be un-circled and straighened out. Even if not, it's easier to get a good, accurate cut to remove roots that are beyond repair. 4. Less water needed. At first, this isn't so true, but with container stock, you have to water copiously until enough rootws have grown out into your native soil (which is 99% of the time far more moisture-retentive than typical container media). If you bare-root first, your native soil IS where the roots lie, so you only have to really water enough to keep the area just moist. Slightly moister than an established plant, since the plant does still have to regenerate some of the fine feeder roots and root hairs, but not as much as a container-grown plant, which has most of the roots still within the container medium for quite a while. Even compared to B&B, since more roots are usually preserved vs. B&B, you could get away with slightly less watering after the first month or two. This post was edited by hairmetal4ever on Wed, Apr 23, 14 at 13:28
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No, I did not neglect watering the tree. It along with about 11 other pots I have in that area are watered regularly, and this tree is the only one out of them that came in an exposed B&B rootball form. All the other pots seem to drain better, than what I ended up with after putting this tree in a pot, and none of those others are looking like too much or too little water has stressed them at all. Also, when I poke my finger down into the rootball, yes I do feel moist soil that my Wada Memory Magnolia's roots should be able to take up. The root ball is still covered within it's orginal soil. When I poke my finger into it I can tell that it is not clay soil that the tree was grown in and that the orginal soil seems to not have been displaced from it's rootball. The potting soil I described adding around that rootball only fills the extra 2 inches all around and beneath the root ball that I put in to fill the pot. I cut the string that wraps around the top of the root ball, and rolled back the burlap; just enough so it could not be seen once I finished filling the pot to the correct level. I also brushed off just enough soil on top of the root ball to expose only the top of the tree's root flare; from that, determined that none of those topmost roots could easily be seen to have grown improperly. Hopefully this tree is not so temperamental for that small amount of disturbance to it's rootball to have bothered it enough to respond as it has. Last night when I did my regular water routine on all those potted items, I did notice that the tree has finally begun to push a few of its dead leaves off. Seeing that ecouraged me just enough to give me a little hope that the tree still has some life in it. Guess I need to do a scratch test to make sure. Haven't done that yet, because I have been feeling very unsure about what I should and should not be doing for the tree at this time. Currently all I am doing, is to make certain the pot's drain holes do not get blocked, and during my regular watering times for the other potted items, I'm sticking my finger in the tree's rootball to determine how much moistness I can feel. I am not watering that pot as long as I can feel moisture in the rootball of that tree. Maybe if the tree keeps dropping its dead leaves I will get the courage to do a scratch test to see just how much green still can be seen. Certainly hope this tree pulls through, because it is a grafted tree, and I do not think any root sprouts could be expected to produce a new 'Wada's Memory' Magnolia tree. At least the last 5 days' high temps turning out to be another period of execessive heat with the shade temperatures reaching the 100 degree F. mark each of that excessive heat, for our area, period is forecasted to have ended: starting today. Hopefull that turns out to be true, so all my other trees that seem to be, just, enduring will get a reprieve. Maybe not though because, I just now saw a severe weather notice pop-up on my screen which in now claiming that the high today is expected to be 101 degrees F. Certainly hope they are wrong, but not likely since it has also just now at 10am, local time, reached 90 degrees F. in the shade.
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claynation_il
9 years ago
Life is short. My small 1/3 acre suburban chicago yard has no room for experiments/slackers of the tree world. Everyone has to pull their weight. My advice? That thing is gone by Saturday afternoon at latest. Live and learn, I've bought some duds myself due to not inspecting enough before purchase.

If I had a couple acres my advice would be different.
ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
9 years ago
you went.. on some level.. for instant gratification.. on buying a 1.75 inch caliper tree ...

if you go smaller.. all your problems are much smaller ...

not to mention.. that a smaller transplant will get established faster.. and usually will outgrow the larger transplant inside 5 years ...

ken
hairmetal4ever
9 years ago
Ken is right.

Plus, elms grow fast anyway. 3'+ per year is not unusual.
tenacre
9 years ago
> longtee81 5 Wed, Jul 30, 14 at 20:38 wrote:
> I figured that it was probably where they had grafted the tree

Why would an Elm tree be grafted?

And to what would it be grafted?

.
hairmetal4ever
9 years ago
If it's a 'Jefferson' Elm - then it's a clone (one of the DED-resistant American Elm clones), so may be grafted.

That being said, it was my understanding that Ulmus americana is one of the relative few large trees that propagates easily from cuttings, and in fact most American Elms *are* propagated as cuttings and not by grafting.

It *could* be grafted, but I think usually American Elms are rooted from cuttings.
longtee81 (Zone 5a)
Original Author
9 years ago
Thanks all for the comments.
I actually attempted to listen to Ken (and get the smallest tree size they had). A few years back (2012) Ken had warned me about avoiding instant gratification yet I went ahead and bought the 4" tree and had it "professionally installed". two years later I have about 1 inch of growth and a tree that is finally looking healthy, hopefully on its way to recovery. I would have been way better off going with a smaller one.

I actually did learn my lesson and searched long and hard for this very specific tree, the problem is that there are only very few nurseries that carry them since they were recently made available to the public. After countless hours of searching on the web for mail order options and calling several nurseries I found one that actually offered this tree (They had to order from out of state and shipped to my home during their Spring delivery). They offered it in many sizes and I had requested the absolute smallest one they had which unfortunately was still fairly large at 1.75 inches. (I like the smaller sizes for the reasons that were noted but also because they are a heck of a lot easier to move around and plant!)

I would have much preferred a smaller one, but it was either that size tree or no tree and I pulled the trigger site unseen and ended up with this unfortunate situation. I think the lesson is to always make sure you have an opportunity to inspect the trees carefully before buying and be aware that underneath several inches of soil you could have a mess of a root system.

As far as grafting, it is my understanding that since disease "resistant" elms are cloned (in the case of the Jefferson Elm, it's an exact copy of the tree located in the Washington Mall in DC (link: below) While I have read that it is best to grow them on their "own root", I believe they are often grafted to non DED resistant American Elm rootstock since it is cheaper/easier. It is possible I have misinterpreted what I've read on the Internet.

Here is a link that might be useful: Jefferson Elm Tree Info
hairmetal4ever
9 years ago
Botany shop carries Jefferson Elm in a smaller size. At least they used to.
hairmetal4ever
9 years ago
If it were me, I might try my hand at taking some cuttings from the tree to root myself. If I remember right, the USNA selections are generally NOT propagation prohibited. I would of course check first.
whaas_5a
9 years ago
No offense but that is an insane amount of work to get an Elm! lol

Some will jump all over me but I believe many species of small container (for example 3 gallon) grown plants rarely exceed (maybe catch up) to a well grown b&b plant (for example 1.5" calliper) FREE of root issues. This is my experience in my zone.

I've landscaped three houses from scratch thus far with a 1,000 plus plants planted. I drove by my old house that I planted mostly b&b (all inspected by myself) and the size of these b&b plants are incredible 6 to 8 years later. At my current place my best growers are b&b. I only have a couple junkers as they where special order and I couldn't check em out.

My point being smaller is not ALWAYS better. For example faster growing plants, species know for contorted roots...go smaller.
mikebotann
9 years ago
I have a grafted Ulmus glabra, 'Camperdownii'.
It's an interesting Elm and not for everyone. Very hard to place in a designed yard. Mine is sorta out in the open.
Small dead branches are as brittle as a potato chip.
Mike

Girdling B&B Tree

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Girdling B&B Tree

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