Planted too Deep

brendonv

brendonv

Tree Hugger
Joined
Mar 6, 2005
Messages
7,152
Location
Oxford, Connecticut
So a friend of mines father does excavation, they planted 8 White Pines for a lady. She called and said they are dieing so I went there with Tim to look at them. I had an idea in my head already that they were too deep. So I went and got on my knees, and there was branches sticking out of the already compact soil. They aren't too far in decline, but they are not vigorous as they should be right now.

"Can't you just give them food?", he asked. Nope.

My question is, all except for the yellow one. They have been in the ground for 7 months, I am thinking we can take them out of there tomb, inspect the roots and remove the burlap/twine they probably didn't take off. We would then start from scratch, and plant them correctly. After planting I was thinking I would drill and fill with Hollytone, or something similar. I also suggested to the lady that we should mulch, if she'd want to hire me for it.

What do you guys think? Would it work?
 
You're on the right track Brandon. That's probably the best chance those trees have.
 
Yup. Either that or start over with new trees. There's never time or money to do it right, but there's always time to do it over. ;)
 
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #5
If they are planted too deep I am SURE they didn't take the time to take the burlap off. I had thought of an air spade, but because they are as deep as they are, they would be sitting in a pool when it rains. We'll see what happens. The lady got my number when she found out I was going to fix his problem, she's pretty pist. I wish I coulda told her the 100% truth, but I didn't want to make Tim look that bad. :lol:
 
I know this is a bit of a hijacking, but does anyone know if colorado blue spruce will deal with occasionally waterlogged soils?
 
I've sure seen them do well in clayey soils, but waterlogged I can't recall. They sure seem to tolerate, like White Pine, quite a variety of soil conditions, which you wouldn't expect from the conditions of their original range. They're propagated by seed of course. Clones, I haven't seen, so I'd think quite a bit of variability can be expected.
 
Brendon, I've pulled up many a young tree with much success. 7 months is nothing. Go for it. Salvage as many of the roots as possible. It's a lot of work digging, lifting, and pulling without messing up the tree, but it can be worth it.

Make sure to move the rootball, not the tree.

Mulch as wide as she'll let you.

love
nick
 
Very waterlogged, for a couple days, every couple weeks throughout the summer. Planted too close to an irrigation drainage ditch. The ditch is somewhat movable, though, so it looks like there is a solution.
 
Hmm, lessee...move the ditch, or find the right plant for the place....

Does the client own a backhoe?
 
It's a small ditch and on second inpsection only needs a slight diversion and deepening. An hour with a sharp spade would do the trick, no backhoe necessary.
 
Leon, Occassionally waterlogged seems to present no problem. The key is dry out time. 98.763 percent of plantings in my area are in clay soils. Many properties are flood irrigated. The Blue Spruce mostly do fine. Almost all of the serious health problems I encounter with Spruce are in trees that have not being given supplemental waterfor an extended period. (We only get 12-13 inches of precip per year).
 
Thanks Justin, that is perfect advice, exactly what I needed to know. This tree is in the same situation.
 
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #17
"Fixed" the pines this morning, replaced one, took out and replanted another (worried about it), and dug around the trunks on the other six. I also took out the dead needles, it's amazing how much better they looked. The lady was furious this morning with Tim, his attitude didn't help any. Her mother and her, were standing over my shoulder all morning. I sweet talked them, and they took to me, gaining my trust that everything will be OK.

I suggested a nice mulch bed, around all the pines. They want me to price it for them.
 
RE the colorado spruce. In my area, a coastal rainforest, they sucketh. Sea level, regular rainfall, occasional sun, occasional cool/cold weather, they no like. A few hours drive from me (towards where Squishner lives), at 2000 ft and higher in the interior of the province, they do just fine.
 
Paul B said:
RE the colorado spruce. In my area, a coastal rainforest, they sucketh. Sea level, regular rainfall, occasional sun, occasional cool/cold weather, they no like. A few hours drive from me (towards where Squishner lives), at 2000 ft and higher in the interior of the province, they do just fine.
Click to expand...

sounds similar to here, do you get "needle cast?"
its ruining a lot of them here, i dont think they like heavy wet clay, and cold heavy soil
 
They have done well here in the past.. We have heavy soil and kind of wet. Lately they have had a problem with loosing needles. I have been told it is a fungus, but i am not sure. Were at 320 feet elevation. About 30" of precip.
 
i thought that was what we call needle cast....tips loose needles, next season the ne regrowth emerges purple
been removing a lot of them lately
 
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