I'm an idiot! girdling roots inevitable?

16 years ago

I really need help this time. I am actually losing sleep over this one!

Last fall when I purchased several maples I was pretty green (and not in a competant way) when it came to planting them. The nursery I purchased the trees from didn't tell me I needed to score the sides of container grown trees and thus I didn't know. I got my info on how to plant container grown trees from arborday.org, which doesn't mention scoring. I also may have planted them too deeply. I had never even heard of root girdling until about two days ago as a result of researching what was going on with an autumn blaze maple I just purchased. Today I went around to all of my maples and dug down to the flair and noticed that all of them had small roots growing around them. Some of the roots extended out, but all had at least a couple of roots growing either around the bottom of the flair or growing out a little ways in a circular motion. I ripped and cut away what I could, but the trees are far too rooted down for me to dig them up and replant (which I tried). For reference, I planted two autumn fantasies, two red sunsets, and one black maple.

Does anybody have any suggestions for me? Is girdling root something that "might happen" or something that is inevitable when trees are planted this way? Is there anything I can do other than what I've done? What about fertilzing a distance away from the tree to encourage that the roots grow out? Let me know your thoughts; it would break my heart if they only lived 10-15 years because I screwed up.

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Comments (6)

alexander3_gw
16 years ago
How big are the trees? What size were the containers they came in?

One possibility is to dig them up this fall and replant properly.

Alex
sbeuerlein
16 years ago
Even digging them up won't really unwind the roots. If any tree can survive girdling roots and being planted to deep, it is red maples, and probably sugar maples too. It seems half or more of all red maples I see have got them.

I wouldn't lose sleep over it. Not every tree with a girdling root dies. Trees have a will to live and often find some way of compensating for such things.

Scott
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alabamatreehugger 8b SW Alabama
16 years ago
Just as a recommendation, when I buy container grown plants I dunk the rootball in a tub of water and GENTLY wash out the potting soil. It takes patience, but by doing that you can unwind any circling roots and spread them out when planting. I have done many this way and they all thrived afterwards.

P.S. Only do it when the trees are dormant.
spruceman
16 years ago
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
gauras
16 years ago
Hello,
I have a similar problem in this other thread which I have linked below.

From what I have read here it looks like I could have left the root of the magnolia alone. Becase the curved root was indeed grafted onto the stem.

But I didn't know and so I cut the curved root off. Hope is its OK. The other two pictures of the stewartia roots I am hoping someone can help me.

Here is a link that might be useful: Girdling Roots?
fenix
Original Author
16 years ago
Thanks for the replies, I feel a little better :).

I'm an idiot! girdling roots inevitable?

Comments (6)

alexander3_gw

sbeuerlein

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I'm an idiot! girdling roots inevitable?

Comments (6)

alexander3_gw

sbeuerlein

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fenix
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