Excavating & Root Washing a Small Tree That's Failing to Thrive

Let's talk roots. And Root Flares. When planting trees it is vitally important to plant the tree at the right depth! Failing to do that simple step correctly can and WILL cause problems for the tree down the road. In this case, we found that the tree was planted too deep - over 6" too deep! So we excavated the roots by completely digging it up to look at what was going on below grade. The roots were spiraling and crossing, several were trying to grow straight up! That was either a result of being planted too deep and trying to reach oxygen, or simply because that was the angle that they were in when they were originally planted.

What if your tree is too big to dig up??? Arborists have special tools for excavating the roots without completely digging the entire tree. So if you suspect your tree is having problems, call your local certified arborist! Make sure to read their reviews because not all arborists are equal and different ones may specialize in different things.

One last thing - we did this in the summer, which was NOT ideal! We tried to make sure to keep things moist, but it was not enough. This tree ended up showing transplant stress and shock. We should have waited until fall to do this project but both we and the client wanted answers so we were impatient. In the end, the client opted for replacement.

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Chapters:
00:00 - Intro - when a tree is planted wrong
01:16 - Digging & what we found
03:00 - Washing & Pruning the Roots
04:43 - Replanting
06:12 - Pruning the top
07:02 - Amy's monologue & rant about so-called "pro's"