if properly planted.. bare rooted ... and any bad roots removed ... i would not give the roots another thought for the rest of its life ..

i suspect you may not have done that.. if you are wondering whats going on.. underground ...

it is always nice to know where you are ... if i were to suggest in the next appropriate season.. you dig it up and find out ... summer is not really the time to do that ... but bottom line.. i dont think i would do it ... let it be ...

it is also said.. suggested.. a root system can end up twice as big as the tree you see .. and in that case.. imo.. it will put its roots where it wants them.. and thats good enough for me ...

nothing wrong about thinking and learning about stuff.. just dont turn into a worrier.. or even worse.. trying to love it to death ...

ken

Looks perfectly fine.

Thanks. I'm in the Bay Area, CA. The city planted it as a street tree a few weeks ago. I don't know if they bare rooted it or not.

" I don't know if they bare rooted it or not."

Bare-rooting is usually unnecessary.

"I don't know if they bare rooted it or not."

I've never seen municipalities that would mess with bare root. They want the efficiency of plopping a B&B in the hole and be done with it. Could possibly be a potted as the tree appears quite small but it's hard tell for sure by the picture.

Did they stake the tree or support it in any way?

it's quite tall already. About 10 ft I should say. Here is a picture right after they planted it. They have staked it.

Unfortunately they topped it and it has quite a few acute angle branched typical of zelkovas. I had hoped for more nursery training. There's also no temporary branches at the bottom. On the plus side, I get to try training it myself so that should be fun.

I would cut it to the ground and let one sprout re-grow instead of dealing with the "training" of watersprouts.

I don't think they're water sprouts. Just narrow angled branches which are typical for this tree. This growing season I'm using notched wood spacers to widen the branch angles as much as I can. And I have mini-stakes in the topped branches to train each top shoot.

Next year I might begin structural pruning. I think I'll head the narrow angled branches and select a leader. I'm thinking the lowest-permanent branch could be at 8 ft or so. So, I think (with my limited knowledge and experience) that there is potential. Meanwhile, I'm trying to read up as much as I can on how to prune young trees.

By the way, I'm not really supposed to do anything to the tree as the city is supposed to maintain it. But given the way their contractor trained it and topped it at planting I'm not sure I want to call them next year for pruning.

What particular species is it?

I also see no 'watersprouts', only new growth where it has been tipped. I think it just needs to be left in peace.

BTW, regarding the acuteness of the angles on Zelkovas, this one in my local park (Z carpinifolia) illustrates the characteristic:

thanedar.

There's really not a whole lot to be done at this point. The tree is at the correct height and the trunk is supported well until the roots establish themselves. That's what we aim for with a tree planting.

I wouldn't do any pruning, The branch problems can be dealt with in a couple of years, after the habit of the tree becomes more apparent.

Right now, the most important thing is to let the tree make as many leaves as it can, to feed and strengthen the roots this summer.

Trees have suffered worse than what we see in the picture and recovered nicely. You won't have any crossed branch problems for a while. :-)

Don't know about the 'training branches', I think it's too early to worry about that and you don't want those wood braces rubbing on the bark or getting ingrown.

I don't like the looks of that wood brace rubbing on the trunk.

That isn't tipped. It's practically a stick with leaves on top. Looks like it will grow to become a structural nightmare.

Logan, I think this species, like in Floral's pic, just does not grow in a shape like your average pin oak.

How to say....if I plant a crepe myrtle and try pruning it into a bald cypres like pyramid both the tree and myself are likely to be frustrated.

"How to say....if I plant a crepe myrtle and try pruning it into a bald cypres like pyramid both the tree and myself are likely to be frustrated."

Yes, but the structural problems created by topping will need to be corrected.

Floral,

It's a Zelkova Serrata, either 'Green Vase' or 'Village Green'.

Bill,

I think you're right. I haven't pruned anything this year and I'll remove the braces before the tree goes dormant. Next year, I'll only do light pruning for subordination.

"It's a Zelkova Serrata, either 'Green Vase' or 'Village Green'."

I was thinking the same thing. The way it was pruned makes no sense because it will somewhat-undermine the upright growth habit.

"The way it was pruned makes no sense because it will somewhat-undermine the upright growth habit."

No worries Logan, a tree this young will re-leader. The pruning previously done, in the end will result in stronger branching structure and won't be evident in a few years. Besides, it's the wrong time of year to prune Zelkova and the worst thing to do now is remove any of the 'food making machines' (read leaves) as we are entering the growing season.

Logan, the tree is so young it can scarcely be said to have been 'topped'. The branches (practically twigs, in truth) have just been shortened slightly i.e. tipped imo. If left alone it will grow away absolutely fine. It doesn't need any intervention at this stage. I wouldn't touch it next year either.

' I wouldn't touch it next year either.' Me neither.

I guess it can't hurt to leave it alone for a few years, and then correct any structural problems that occur later. I don't have any problem with tipping. I have tipped crepe myrtles, redbuds, and dogwoods with great results, but I define tipping as 3-5 inches off the end of each branch.

An update after this growing season. The tree grew quite a bit but the lower trunk developed a lean toward the side where there was (and still is) no root flare. Is this indicative of a stem girdling root on that side requiring excavation when dormant? Or should I still leave it alone?

The wind is usually in the opposite direction so I'm thinking it's not the wind.

Not sure I understand. The tree looks to be staked quite firmly. How would the trunk be able to go anywhere?

Besides, a small crook in the lower trunk will be hardly noticeable once the tree increases in diameter several inches.

You could carefully pull the dirt back with your hand on the side without the root flare. Just a few inches down to see if there is anything going on. But IME, if there's a root flare on one side of the trunk, then the tree is at the right level in the ground.

The over-pruning has made this tree look horrid. Also, get those stakes off of there!

https://plumtreetrading.blogspot.com/2016/10/to-stake-or-not-to-stake.html

The over-pruning has made this tree look horrid.

Small potatoes Logan. Once the leaves fall and one can see things better (all the way until spring), Light subordinate pruning will take of that.

Also, get those stakes off of there!

Agree, by next spring anyways.

Not sure I understand. The tree looks to be staked quite firmly. How would the trunk be able to go anywhere?

I'm not worried about the tree falling; I'm just wondering why that crook developed. Like, could there have been girdled roots already present when they planted it and now that the trunk grew in girth they are starting to choke it?

Also, get those stakes off of there!

We get some high wind storms in the winter so I thought I'd keep it staked until the spring. I've loosened the straps so it gets to sway a little.

I'm not worried about the tree falling; I'm just wondering why that crook developed. Like, could there have been girdled roots already present when they planted it and now that the trunk grew in girth they are starting to choke it?

I really doubt that there would be any visual evidence this early in the game. The symptoms of girdling roots don't show up very quickly, it would take several if not many years to encircle and choke a tree.

Girdling roots start out as circling roots. Circling roots happen when a tree is planted too deeply in the soil, roots then will grow up towards shallower, oxygen rich ground. Once they get to a level that they like, they start growing laterally again. Trouble is, the don't have a sense of direction and can start growing back toward the tree and at times around the tree.This can also be caused by trees that are in a pot way too long at the nursery.

I think that being you have a true root flare at the correct depth on one side of the tree, that means that the part of the trunk that needs to be at the right level, is at the right level, so you should be fine imo.

You'll probably have to live with that 'crook'. Don't know what caused it but hey, it's a tree and trees will grow the way they want to no matter what we try to do.

That's remarkable growth btw. And you don't have to be too quick to prune anything, even by next year would be fine.