Tree Owners Manual

[ROOTSXROCKS]

I
But the most obvious need for a staking (I rarely do it) is in containerized trees where the weight of the top to root area is much more in favor of the top.

Yep me neither, your dead on about the top heavy trees, and palms well if you really don't want to stake the big ones just bury it deeper :yoyo:

 

[John Paul Sanborn]

I disagree, every stage of the balling and digging puts the tree into shock that it has to recover from, all unnecessary stress should be avoided.

A little more adverse movement while finding the FOR's and addressing any potential girdling roots is better in the long run. A few years ago Trass and Zillmer did a roadshow on this agressive planting technique that pretty much took b&b stock to almost bare root. Very high survival rates, and less time and effort digging. I do not go as far as them on the few trees a year I install but it makes sense to dig encircling roots out, straighten them into a slit trench.

http://www.google.com/search?hl=500&newwindow=1&q=zillmer+tree+planting

Here is a search on zillmer if you are interested. Looks like they were still talking last year. I gotta leave for school soon, so I did not look at much of it. Back to school at 43 sure feels weird. I've done a few classes here and there over the years, the "some college" on any application or demographic survey, but two half days a week is still hard getting used to.

 

[alanarbor]

You could also bypass the B & B issue and just go bare root.

Good planting success, and really reduces the exposure to back injury!

 

[John Paul Sanborn]

I like bar root too, but the selection is much bigger with B&B stock.