Managing trees in schoolyards:
the young trees By Mario Lanthier, CropHealth Advising & Research Close-up of root defects (girdling post-planting).
Community planting event in Kelowna.
Root defects: circling propagation container overview.
Root management: scalping roots before planting.
Shavings placed in container.
Parents and students are planting a tree
over to the maintenance crew.
in the schoolyard. It is a great event for
Did we provide proper instructions
the school and its community, a small
for the planting event? Can we ensure
contribution for a better future. Once
the long-term survival of the tree?
everybody is gone, the tree is turned
At the time of planting, there is an
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Ops Talk • Fall 2012
Staking a young tree after planting.
important practice that must be implemented. The root system of the tree must be managed to deal with circling roots. These roots continue to grow around and around, even after planting, eventually growing into the trunk and becoming girdling roots. We often see trees dying from girdling roots two to five years after planting. All trees coming from a nursery may have circling roots. Trees grown in containers may have roots that circle inside the container. The circling roots are obvious on the outside of the root ball. Field-grown trees sold as bare root or balled-and-burlapped may have been propagated from seed, acorn or cutting in a small circle container. In this case, the circling roots are close to the trunk
