Decompacting roots

[ROLLACOSTA]

just wondering how many of you guys carry out any decompaction service ..ive been interested in a few products and was looking for some info on the subject....


i think a lot of trees suffer with compacted roots ..be it in a back yard or school or anywhere humans, animals ,vehicles pass over the root system regulary.. i think decompaction will help unstress a tree ..and will hopefully make a tree that is growing in an unatural setting become less suseptable to diseases

the products ive been looking at are the Terravant system though the uk dealer whent bust unfortunatly ..ive thought about the AIR - SPADE for verticle mulching ..and finaly the DEEP-ROOT needle from sherrill


anyway i was just wondering what you guys thought about the subject and products

 

[jkrueger]

good idea

It is a major piece, compacted roots in the urban culture is overwhelming. I personaly only want to climb and I've wanted to see more activity in the area of this issue.

There is a 'material' called CU Soil, that handles all that at construction and planting time. You can not compact it. Something to consider if you also plant.

Best,
Jack

 

[ROLLACOSTA]

dont know how true it is but ive heard of a few firms in the UK that will charge £500 thats nearly $900 to decompact and inject myccoriyzall solution to a mature broadleaf using the Terravant machine

 

[jkrueger]

CU soil

If your interested:
www.hort.cornell.edu/department/faculty/bassuk/uhi/outreach/csc/

If this stuff were used urban trees would not have compacting problem.

Yes, I see you are looking at the advantages of including 'air spade' or some othe apps to support soil management with trees.

Just wanted you to know about CU soil.

Thanks,
Jack

 

[MasterBlaster]

Just curious -- can decompaction be replaced with heavy mulching?

 

[ROLLACOSTA]

this soil product looks ideal for street trees ..thanks for the link

 

[ROLLACOSTA]

Originally posted by MasterBlaster
Just curious -- can decompaction be replaced with heavy mulching?

Ive read that too much or too deep a mulch can upset the gasseus exchange and be as bad or almost as bad as compaction..whilst mulch is great long term i think other opptions like Terravant/or DEEP ROOT are a quicker solution to a a tree that is showing signs of distress

 

[Guy Meilleur]

Originally posted by MasterBlaster
Just curious -- can decompaction be replaced with heavy mulching?

Yes it can if you and the tree can wait a decade or two. Best to get in there and fracture the hard earth and get O2, and microorg back active ASAP.

I have an airspade that works well but for smaller jobs I just use a pick to fluff up the earth and stuff the holes with expanded slate and compost, a la CU soil, same basicstuff but without Cornell University taking a cut on it.

This is harder to sell than pruning and less fun, but much more critical for the tree's health. for advocatae pro arborae.
MikeM had a nice pic series on verticalmulching; what was that thread called?

Terravent like GrowGun breaks up the soil but it just flops back down again; not much resarch backs up their use. If you want to go mechanical, airspade's the tool.

 

[Reed]

Guy's on target.

I've also had success w/ a spike aerator (non-powered) that has 3-inch tines. I cover from the drip-line in then spray a solution of Medina Soil Conditioner that Home Depot carries for $10 per gal. I use the 30-gallon drums that brings the cost to 2.50. A gal will do five or more acres.

Treatment of the area post-spray I recommend that people and grazing animals STAY AWAY. Mulching (maybe even minimal to discourage traffic) helps or even snow-fencing barriers. In the heat of Summer cows or sheep or... like to have the shade, but now days it's either animals or trees, a choice.

If you want to get into the efficacy of that product I can, but it's complicated. I'm a firm (no pun) advocate of soil ecology and personally love pseudomonas esp P. aerogenosa, although deadly to humans.

An interesting read is the life cycle of the rain forests of Brazil - after clearing and one year post-grazing or corn production. It is a way to understand the laterization of soils.

Hardpan sucks.

 

[Reed]

Dan, we've used water pressure, but there are a couple things to consider. One is water source...city water may have chlorine that would be counter-productive to microflora and may lead to more hardpan eventually. Well's okay. A 200-gallon tank filled overnight generally has the chloring dissipate by morning - if left open.

Two, it's messy big time, although dust is limited. I also noticed on sites we liquified the year prior an unusually large amount of weeds started, and surface mold (if it was damp out) and some odiferous growth underground (couldn't I.D. it). Also the spray pattern of my nozzles were either straight-line (for canopy distances) or fan (for misting long distances) and the 'fan' pattern cut a lot of feeder-tip roots and scored the larger ones. I was 350-850 psi, 3 gallons per minute.

 

[Guy Meilleur]

Originally posted by oakwilt
the 'fan' pattern cut a lot of feeder-tip roots and scored the larger ones.

Airspade too does root damage; I see the skin peel off roots sometimes. One more reason I like swinging the pick instead; it glances off most roots, and only the hairy roots are broken when the pick blade is pulled up, and those regrow readily.