has it already budded out???

if not ... time for root surgery ...

but you cant do that.. with fresh new growth ...

how are the buds looking.. pix????

ken

Ditto to Ken.

No photo necessary for me, though.

Dax

I like Beng's idea. Tree's already in the ground, life is short, may as well save a bit of time here. The problem with doing nothing is that those circling roots, which simply have not yet had time to impact each other and start the downward spiral of girdling, will eventually do so.

cant imagine any significant root growth from late nov to now ... in my z5 ...

no clue about your z6 ... does your ground freeze??? .. might be the key

digging it up.. would at least answer that ... lol

ken

Ground usually freezes for a month or two, but I don't think it did this year.

Irony is it's probably the best planting hole I've ever dug. That area is usually hard to dig, but there was just the right amount of moisture when I planted it...

well im curious ... ken

BTW .. i presume roots stop growing when the soil freezes ... as compared to more temperate climes.. where you might have root growth all winter ... hence my interest ...

I borrowed a machete from someone to try beng12's advice. (I saw it in the "impulse buy" section of the store and got it as a gag gift...psyched to finally have a use for it!)

If I try beng12's advice, does it matter if I do it after bud break or in the rain?

It's not planted where I live, and rain is predicted for the date of my last trip down. Then I'm going to busy for a while, and by then it will certainly have started Spring growth.

Ed, best to do it before it leafs out. When I've done it, I used a serrated knife as it "saws" better. One I did lost quite a bit of ground-support and had to stake it for some yrs afterward.

beng12: The catch is, the only time in the ear future I can get down is during a rain storm...do the disadvantages of doing it in the rain outweigh the disadvantages of doing it after bud-break? I imagine neither is ideal.

The machete oddly seems the perfect tool...it has a serrated side and is longer then any of my other knives. And I care less if it gets damaged then my Mom's good silverware. I practiced the procedure on a friend's rootbound forsythia...

How has this worked on already planted, potbound conifers in the past?

Ed, I did it on a number of root-girdled, planted trees (SHOULD have done root surgery before planting) -- two longleaf pines, a larch, a loblolly pine and a loblolly x pitch pine. All survived & are healthy now, but difficult to say how much effect there was -- don't know what would have happened if I'd done nothing. But I didn't kill them.....

We know lots of trees in pots are developing horribly contorted and circling roots. We know that in some cases, this has direct bad consequences for the tree albeit it is usually some years down the road. What we don't tend to know is how many of the crazy root systems are undergoing inosculation or grafting together. Presumably, when such roots are able to graft together, many of the issues we are concerned about disappear. I would imagine that one or more of our top-flight researchers are or will be looking into species differences on this factor. It could be that in some species, it really doesn't matter that much. Thing is, we don't know that for certain. I think we've all had occasion to plant a tree with a horrible root system yet had the tree both survive and thrive. And the reverse as well!

I know Pseudotsuga menziesii will root connect. Here's a picture of where that happened on my land. You can see the 'healed' over stump, and the root connecting to the live tree. Well, it was alive until it blew over, and then returned upright when I harvested the wood.

http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i283/Botann/Gardenweb%20forums%20stuff/IMG_0444.jpg

I also have a stump of Sequoiadendron that is doing the same thing.

Mike

Oddly, it still looks quite happy. It was really late to produce buds but did eventually put out new growth. Apparently it is a "Moerheim" if that matters. I got to decorate it for Christmas a second year...

Just because the roots are horribly twisted and curled about in a container doesn't meant the tree will die once planted and fallen over. Just for the heck of it I let this Lawson Cypress live after it fell as sort of an example, I guess I thought I could make a short hedge out of it, but an Incense Cedar (Calocedrus decurrans) nearby grew up and shaded it quite a bit. Then the Cedar started leaning toward the light and my house and I decided it had to go. That was two years ago and now the cypress is starting to fill out some due to the increased light. Pruning out the dead limbs is the next order of business. That, and getting that old hose out of there. This isn't in a very visible place so I've been able to put up with it for a number of years. It's also in the shade of a 35 ft. Parrotia persica so someday I'm going to remove the cypress.

Embothrium, you've been talking about rootbound trees falling over for years. Here's a good example. ;-)

ed, did you post that picture to show how the tree looks? Bwahahahah!! All you see is dots of light. Good one! :-))

OK, if your night vision isn't good enough to see that one...

Thanks! I think.... :)

All kidding aside. That really is a nice looking tree you have there.

Thanks! Still worried about it's long term prospects, but so far so good.