New Maple Balled and Burlapped Help1

[OldGlory]

The burlap will rot and the cage will rust away. I worked for a landscape company in WA state as well as a few golf courses. We never removed it just cut it back after placing in the hole. We planted trees in large condo developments, dozens of dogwoods, cherries, maples, and firs. Then did the servicing of them (pruning). Never had an issue. If you can remove it go ahead and do so. The only risk is the ball can break apart if you are moving it around.

If you don't cut the burlap away from the trunk it can choke the tree and will kill it. Leaving it on the ball no problem.

[nclawnguy]

Cutting back the burlap once in the hole is not a bad option either. Thats better then just sticking the tree in the planting hole and covering with dirt. Very important you find the root flare and not have it covered with soil.

[ Post made via Android ]

[LoneRanger]

Root ball collapse can be a major reason for large tree failures. When youe dealing with large b&b, excavate the proper depth, set the tree, remove the top, clear the flair, fill the hole in layers, lightly pack each layer, and lightly water each pack. That's my experience planting large b&b. Small trees are a different procedure, and it does involve completely removing the burlap/cage or pot. Large b&b trees usually come out of a large pot before they hit the field. When their excavated in the field a large portion of the ball is the original potting. If you release this in an loose planting, the surrounding soil will settle and the ball will collapse.

[Kmartel]

The burlap will rot and the cage will rust away. I worked for a landscape company in WA state as well as a few golf courses. We never removed it just cut it back after placing in the hole. We planted trees in large condo developments, dozens of dogwoods, cherries, maples, and firs. Then did the servicing of them (pruning). Never had an issue. If you can remove it go ahead and do so. The only risk is the ball can break apart if you are moving it around.

If you don't cut the burlap away from the trunk it can choke the tree and will kill it. Leaving it on the ball no problem.

This is absolutely not true, anyone reading this do not listen to any of the above advice.

As I stated before, it's not up for discussion, remove entire cage and all but the bottom of the burlap. Cages don't rust and burlap doesn't rot, I have removed many trees 10 years later were the cage and burlap still were intact.


Sent from my iOS device using the Yard Help App

[dfw_pilot]

Where's my popcorn?

[ Post made from up in a tree, Zacchaeus style]

[OldGlory]

My experience has been different.

[Tony alony]

Love this discussion because the truth will prevail !!

+1 Kmartel I think in most people's experiences, they just don't know that most tree planters use the smallest auger they can afford. A proper tree planting is done with sloping sides and 3 times larger than the rootball. Let's see if a "Chuck with a truck" arborist can haul his tractor and properly sized auger to begin the dig, rather than just plop it in an undersized hole.
I believe the sloping sides of the excavation are to accommodate the feeder roots in the loosend soil of the slope. If the planting hole is too small, removal of the cage is next to impossible, that's why some amateurs don't use a sloped hole

[LoneRanger]

Any word from your landscaper, Atc4usmc?

[Tony alony]

Unrelated to this discussion at hand. My arborist crews will address my health issues for my trees. So; for information purposes, I thought I would share, and this may help the owners of young trees. One technitiion will address the root fertilization and another will address the pruning. The pruning work is designed to provide a better clearance under the trees. I expressed my concerns about having to duck under the low canopy in order to mow. The arborist is sending someone out to prune any diseased branches and to raise the canopy above 6 foot height., while the tree is still young. According to the arborist, this will encourage the young tree to grow (rise) above the height of my home, before starting to branch outward.
Since I have a smaller lot than is customary for oak trees, this pruning is a management issue.
Another discovery revealed by the arborist, was that he recommended cutting any smaller roots (thumb size) that were moving in the direction of the foundation. He recommended this because, in an arborist's opinion, root barriers, we're ineffective and resulted in efficacy. I'm not exactly sure how this should be done but maybe I will add the info after I speak with the arborist.
Hope this information helps someone in the same situation, because, most people take for granted, how a long- lived tree should be managed early on in, it's young growth spurts. Most people leave them to grow as they are when they have enough space, and; when and if they become a problem, move to another home, or take them down in order to grow a better stand of grass.

[Atc4usmc]

LR: My nursery said the tree is installed correctly and the burlap will rot away sooner than the roots begin to spread. I sure hope this is true, especially after reading the discussion on here and the differences in practices. They told me a tree this size, if we were to remove the burlap and cage that we risk the collapse of the root ball. Again, I hope they are right, only time will tell for sure I guess. Ill report back in 5 year increments to let everyone know how the tree is doing .

Thanks!

[Tony alony]

LR: My nursery said the tree is installed correctly and the burlap will rot away sooner than the roots begin to spread. I sure hope this is true, especially after reading the discussion on here and the differences in practices. They told me a tree this size, if we were to remove the burlap and cage that we risk the collapse of the root ball. Again, I hope they are right, only time will tell for sure I guess. Ill report back in 5 year increments to let everyone know how the tree is doing .

Thanks!

Atc4, not wishing to be the bearer of sour grapes, I'll leave a couple of discussions for you to ponder and possibly add to your information files( bookmarks) going forward. What's done is done, but keep a watcful eye on the health of your trees. Here's a couple of links that may be helpful: http://forestry.usu.edu/htm/city-and-to ... -materials! And the great information provided by the Univ. of Florida: http://hort.ifas.ufl.edu/woody/index.shtml
You should discover that there is much to learn, as well as much to avoid. Here's an example of what to avoid: http://hort.ifas.ufl.edu/woody/root-growth-wire.shtml
Good Luck!

[TimmyG]

Great contribution with that first link, Tony. (I didn't look at the others.)

[Tony alony]

Timmy G , as you know, there are almost always; differences in the conclusive facts with any situation.
This tree planting topic may be one of them.