# new plantings



## Tree M.D. (Apr 11, 2001)

Fill me in on the truth!! I am going to plant some, approx 4", trees. Do I leave them in the cage or take the cage off? Do I leave the ball tied for a year or untie it at time of planting? I know the proper depth and diameter of the hole and I am not going to stake. I have heard conflicting info from many I talk to.


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## Darin (Apr 12, 2001)

I agree, I have heard and seen different ways of doing it. This is how I was taught to do it. I took the top quarter of the mesh off so it stayed in one piece putting it in the hole. I removed any and all twine on the ball. It seemed to last even longer than the mesh and always seemed to girdle. I planted it and always cut the top of the burlap off the top. It was also a good idea to do this because some twine always seemed to be hidden in places you didnt expect. With proper care by the new owner I never had any problem with this process. 
This is one thing I have seen people do and really doesnt have anything to do with your question, but on the planting. I have seen the installers, when rolling the ball in the hole, loose control and let the tree "whip". You can just here it snap near the base. It looks fine for a while, then a year later you go back and you can basically pull the tree out of the ground. (dead)

Darin


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## Ray Morneau (Apr 19, 2001)

Now, tell me what the problem is with taking the cage off?

Does it take so long to prevent the girdling injuries that in the cost/benefit analysis your client says he won't pay for that time/expense?

Yep, like most projects, the answers lie more in the $$$ than in the theory/science.

[email protected]


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## Darin (Apr 19, 2001)

Ray,
I just pointed how I was taught. My ex-boss said we were to leave the bottom of the cage on so the ball didnt fall apart. I do see the problems with leaving it on but have found that the cages we used rotted out extremely fast (2 years). Thats why this forum is great. We can come together and talk about issues, as simple as they might be, an get different ideas (better ideas).
Darin


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## Ray Morneau (Apr 20, 2001)

Darin -

You're right that the root ball MUST remain intact! Fractured root masses are as much a problem as that other problem you identified earlier, Darin, the breakage from "whiplash" (which I did not specifically address, since you had covered it).

Regarding the baskets -- I only have some anecdotal evidence - no scientific study. Not all baskets rust away within two years. I have seen some made of galvanized material (obviously meant to avoid rusting) which have remained perdurable/indissoluable/tough enough to be causing girdling ten years after planting.

I hope Tree MD is still following this thread. The answer to his question is probably product-specific. Ask about or inspect the wire. If rustable, good; if not, adapt your planting methods. At any rate, maintain the integrity of the root ball. If wire left in place, I would suggest monitoring to be sure it's not a problem. (But now just who is going to pay for that? And, do we dig it up if it doesn't rust well?? And, how do we keep the newly-grown roots intact???) So many variables!

That, too, is why we search for answers on such a Forum as this. There are seldom black-n-white answers, but we learn some of the questions which our peers would ask that helps us give our client the best job available for the $$$ they put to their project.

That's my 2 cents.
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## Tree M.D. (Apr 20, 2001)

Good reply Ray. I agree with you 100% It still does not answer my question to whether or not you cut the twine ( synthetic or not) of the root ball when you plant it. Let me know


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## Tree M.D. (Apr 20, 2001)

P.S. I drench all my plants in Orthene. It works well. GO DEVILS!!!!


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## Ray Morneau (Apr 20, 2001)

Tree MD -
To answer your question (maybe) --

Yes, I cut the twine, remove the "burlap", take off any container (plastic, cardboard, wire, wooden box, et alii aliorum).

Maybe I do this because my clients trust that it it worth paying me to do this. (Actually I plant very little any more these days -- I mostly just talk & write about it.)

What others do will depend on their interpretation of the info to which they have access ... and on what their assignment is from their client.

[email protected]


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## kris (Apr 26, 2001)

Personaly i have never seen anyone take off the wire basket...yes cut off the top 1/3....cut all string & burlap.


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## treeclimber165 (May 5, 2001)

*Wire baskets*

Personally, I always figured that the less man-made crap left around the roots the better. Excellent points were made about maintaining integrity of the rootbal. My installations consisted of digging a hole approx. 2 feet wider than the root ball, then removing as much of the extraneous crap as possible without disturbing the ball. I kept a pair of bolt cutters on my boom truck to cut the top 1/2 of the basket away without letting the rootball fall apart. Also, digging a larger hole enabled me to add minor soil improvements to a larger area when backfilling.


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## John Paul Sanborn (May 20, 2001)

I don't think amendments are good, natiive soil should be used.

instead of digging the hole real wide, I'll take a fork and free up the soil around the ball once installed. That is unless i used a stumper to "dig" with. <g>


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