Hi, While researching about Japanese Maples, I just learned about "root flare" and that it is very important to plant them at the correct depth. I am still such a noob about gardening! :( So, this fall I will replant >10 Japanese Maples so that they are not too deep and their root flares are at or above ground level. However, I have >30 more trees in my garden including many fruit trees and the oldest had been in ground since 2 years when I moved to my house. Most of them are planted by my gardener, who I suppose has no idea about how to correctly transplant a tree, because it seems most of the trees are planted too deep. Is planting too deep an important issue for all tree types? If root girdling will be an issue, I will replant all my trees if necessary. Below, is the list of trees that I currently have in my garden. Are any trees in the below list not prone to root girdling due to planting too deep, so I should not touch them? - Japanese Maples (various cultivars) - Araucaria heterophylla (big tree) - Magnolia Grandiflora (big tree) - Mulberry - Lime - Lemon - Grapefruit - Mandarine - Kumquat - Weeping Willow - Apricot - Quince - Tilia - Ornamental Peach - Weeping Mulberry - Pomegranate - Sour Cherry - Sweet Cherry - Crape Myrtle (Lagerstroemia Indica) If I have to replant them all, it will already be a hard job, but some of them are practically impossible to replant such as the Magnolia Grandiflora and the Araucaria, so if I just take off the top soil from such trees until the root flare can be seen, would it be enough? Also, I had bought all of these as containers, and I paid no attention to root circling before planting them. Is there anything I can do to help with this as well? (Maybe cut through the soil with a saw / knife from 4 sides?) Or should I simply replant them all? Thanks in advance.
In my experience most riparian (floodplain) trees (Magnolia, Mulberry, Willow some Maples) tolerate deep planting. Citrus, Pome and Stone fruits don't much care for deep planting. Shrubs, (Pomegranate, Crepe-myrtle etc.) seem indifferent.
Thank you for your response! This has been quite a relief for me, as I was wondering how to replant that many trees lol. So I suppose, from this list, only Araucaria heterophylla (Norfolk Island Pine), Tilia, Crape Myrtle and Japanese Maples should be replanted right? Btw, what about Monterey Cypress (Goldcrest) ? I have these as hedge around my garden.
Crape Myrtle doesn't care as I said. Conifers (Excepting Taxodium, Larix) usually won't stand deep planting.
Thanks a lot once again. I have earlier read that, when planting trees that are bought in containers, in order to prevent root circling 1 inch cuts should be made from top to bottom on 3-4 sides of the rootball. Now, since this was neglected at the time of planting, would it help if I do this now? (Cutting the soil around the trees to 30- 40 cm deep from several locations?)
The Bottom Line • Plants with woody roots often need corrective root pruning before transplanting • Containerized plants are notorious for concealing fatal root flaws • “Bare-rooting” container plants is a more successful transplanting technique as root flaws can be corrected and container media removed • In a healthy, well-watered plant, root pruning at transplant time will induce vigorous new root growth and assist in establishment http://www.puyallup.wsu.edu/~linda chalker-scott/Horticultural Myths_files/Myths/Fragile roots.pdf
Most sources that I have read advise prior to planting, to loosen the rootball at the sides and at the bottom with a rake or with fingers and make 1 inch deep cuts from top to bottom to help roots spread out. But in theory, wouldn't it be better if we simply used a sharp saw and make the rootball "smaller" cutting from each side and from the bottom just as if we were planting to a smaller pot? (I'm not comparing this method with bare root planting which is probably much better anyway. I'm comparing it with raking the sides and the bottom and making cuts.) If we simply reduce the size of the rootball, wouldn't this be a good root pruning? The roots at the inner wouldn't be too much disturbed either.
