where are you. big city name..

is the bed on the north side of the extensive cement .. how how does the pavement get... how are your plants watered...how late int eh night or early morning.. does the pavement stay hot or warm????

could you get any pic closer to the actual plants... especially where the trunk goes in the ground.. pull back the mulch and the soil until you find the root flare. take more pix...

ken

https://duckduckgo.com/?t=ftsa&q=root+flare&iax=images&ia=images

ken is right.

Planting depth or planting too deep can cause growth to decelerate. The root flare needs to be at or slightly above grade for the plants to perform properly. If some are planted properly and one or two is not, there could be a noticeable difference in performance.

The other factors mentioned above also can come into play.

Thank you. its very hard ro get down that far on these shortest ones because the suckers basically prevent it. Let me know if these photos are ok

Please excuse the weeds. Just got back from a trip.

Here is one rhat doesnt have the suckers. You can more easily see the root.

The trees are all about 10’ away from the street and the street heat doesnt reach them. they really only get water from rain now thet they are established. the landscaper who planted them told us after a few years we dont need to water them.

We are bwtween Cleveland and Akron.

It is hard to tell by the pictures and the suckering doesn't help anything, but root flare should be like the diagram below:

The second to the last picture could be suspect as it appears to be what's called 'Telephone poled' where the trunk goes straight into the ground, meaning the root flare has been buried too deep.

Thanks, Ill dig them all out and post pics after.

Any other tips to get the short ones to increase in height?

Don't worry about the suckers. they can be clipped off. Just dig deep enough to find where the root flare is located (as in the diagram). Dig carefully, by hand if necessary, so you don't damage the bark.

I really don't know what to tell you about changing their growth.

Trees need to be planted properly and then correct aftercare is most important.

Once a plant gets set back, there's no way that I know of that would remedy that.

It does appear the one on the right was quite a bit taller to start with. What's with that?

You could talk to the landscaper, but It's probably been too long to hold him accountable.

Next spring, apply a balanced granular fertilizer in the root zone (don't overdo it!) on the smaller trees.

Then make sure they aren't allowed to dry out.

Once the tops grow larger, in a couple of years, trim the lower branches so the tops are more even.

Thanks. The landscaper is out of business.

There are two diff species of Hawthorn here, which is not at all what we ordered. The tall have thorns, the short do not. I want badly for them to all be similar height so I can achieve the look we intended.

The quick and easy (and costly) method would be to have them replaced.

Trees of different species may not have the same growth rate or exact form.

Even with same species, there's no guarantee they will grow perfectly the same over the years.

Maybe some of the designers here will chime in with some ideas.

Unfortunately far too many people who call themselves landscapers are just jumped up lawn guys who know absolutely nothing about plants--not how to choose them. where to place them how to plant them, how to care for them, and on and on.

Considering

there are 6 of them and we havent been able to find them locally for years, I dont see replacement happening.

I’m enclosing a photo of one of them I tried to expose the roots of and one I attempted on a maple. For both I am really only finding tiny surface roots. is that good, or do i need to cut through those to dig further?

The fine roots above the root flare, on the trunk are called adventitious roots.

You can snip those off.

Any root growing up from the root crown can be snipped off.

Your last picture is a classic example of a tree planted too deep.

Thank you. I was under the impression that I needed to dig far down enough to expose the tops of the large roots as is shown in some examples.

The suckers are large and abundant on some of these trees and are right up against the root flare. I dont know how to eliminate them. I cut them as low as possible.

Trees that are struggling tend to send up suckers all the more even though Crataegus spp. is a suckering tree to begin with.

Clip off the suckers as nice and clean cut as you can with sharp pruning clippers, the tree will encapsulate the wound as time goes on.

Disinfecting the clippers with 10% solution of chlorine bleach before going to the next tree is a good way to not spread pathogens to the next tree.

If the location of the tree is fairly flat, it might not be as easy to level it all out as in the video but if you have good soil drainage it should not be that big of a deal if water runs towards the tree when it rains.

eta: notice the man in the video is not worried about all the small roots at the surface. You can hear them snapping in the video as he moves away the soil.