scholarly journals Effect of Container Type and Root Pruning on Growth and Anchorage After Planting Acer rubrum L. into Landscape Soil

2016 ◽  
Vol 42 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Edward Gilman ◽  
Maria Paz ◽  
Chris Harchick

Acer rubrum L. ‘Florida Flame’ were grown in #3 containers of eight types, then shifted to #15 containers, then finally into #45 containers. Half the trees were root pruned by removing periphery 3 cm of root ball at each shift to larger containers. In addition to and simultaneous with being shifted into successively larger containers, some trees from each container size were planted directly into soil. Type of container and root pruning had no impact on trunk diameter, tree height, or root cross-sectional area on trees planted into soil from any container size. Type of container influenced architecture of planted root systems evaluated when all trees were five-years-old with limited impact on anchorage. Container type only impacted anchorage of trees planted from #45 containers, and impact was small. In contrast, shaving root balls during production substantially reduced imprint left by all containers evaluated when trees were five-years-old. Shaving during production also improved anchorage by 20%–25% compared to not root pruning. More roots grew on north than the south side of tree in the nursery and landscape. Bending stress increased with trunk angle and its square while winching trunks to five degrees tilt.

2016 ◽  
Vol 42 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Edward Gilman ◽  
Maria Paz ◽  
Chris Harchick

Root pruning by shaving 12 L container root balls when shifting to 51 L containers did not impact Acer rubrum L. or Quercus virginiana Mill. root architecture within the top 12 cm of planted 51 L root balls five years later, despite marked differences at planting, and had no impact on tree height or trunk diameter increase. Root pruning in the nursery did not affect bending stress required to tilt Acer trunks up to five degrees (anchorage) either one, two, or three years after landscape planting. In contrast, anchorage was greater the second year after planting Quercus that were root pruned. Rotating trees 180 degrees at planting from their orientation in the nursery had no impact on Acer or Quercus anchorage, tree height, or trunk diameter. Rotating oak (not maple) trees 180 degrees at planting increased root cross-sectional area growing from the hot (south) side of the root ball when trees were rotated at planting.


2016 ◽  
Vol 42 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Edward Gilman ◽  
Maria Paz ◽  
Chris Harchick

Size of liner, root ball slicing when field planting, and field root pruning season were tested with intention of optimizing posttransplant performance of field-grown nursery stock. Trees planted into a field nursery from three container sizes and either root ball sliced or not when shifted to larger containers or planting to the field nursery, and root pruned in the field nursery in either the dormant season or growing season all had the same trunk diameter (144 mm) and tree height (6.4 m) three years after transplanting into the landscape. Container size influenced root attributes—including number and orientation—and anchorage rating of field-harvested trees. Trees planted from 11 L containers required more bending stress to winch trunks evaluated 12 and 25 months after transplanting than larger containers. Percentage of root systems graded as culls was reduced from 88 to 66 by root pruning when field planting, but root pruning resulted in a slight reduction in anchorage rating. Diameter of the ten largest roots at edge of field-harvested root ball decreased with size of container planted into field soil. Root pruning season had no impact on final tree height (4.3 m) at the conclusion of field production.


2016 ◽  
Vol 42 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Edward Gilman ◽  
Maria Paz ◽  
Chris Harchick

There is a general understanding that roots deflect when striking solid nursery container walls, and that on trees with good vitality this occurs within weeks of shifting into larger containers. Root architecture is poorly understood when observed in containers with walls constructed of porous plastic and of materials other than plastic. The objective of this study was to measure impacts of container type, root pruning when shifting to a larger container, and cardinal direction on root architecture in nursery containers up to the #45 size (approximately 170 L). Trunk diameter in #45 containers varied less than 5 mm among eight container types and was not impacted by root pruning. More root growth occurred in the northern than southern half of containers. Container type had a small impact on root architecture; in contrast, root pruning by shaving the periphery of the root ball at each shift had a large impact. Shaving when shifting dramatically reduced the percentage of trees graded as culls and suppressed stem-girdling root formation compared to not shaving. Shaving shifted deflected woody root mass from the interior of the root ball to the exterior, making it simple to remove peripheral roots when planting into the landscape.


1998 ◽  
Vol 16 (1) ◽  
pp. 55-59
Author(s):  
Michael D. Marshall ◽  
Edward F. Gilman

Abstract Trees of red maple (Acer rubrum L.) were planted into seven container types evaluated for their ability to reduce number of roots deflected by the container wall. Seedlings were grown 70 weeks (production phase) in seven container types to a mean trunk diameter of 3.9 cm (1.5 in) and were transplanted into a sandy soil and grown with frequent or periodic irrigation for 24 weeks (landscape phase). There was no effect of container type on total root mass, trunk diameter or height during the production phase. Total deflected root length was less in low-profile plastic containers, chemical root pruning containers, air root pruning containers (ARPC), and wood boxes than in standard black plastic containers (SBPC). Trees produced in the SBPC had the most horizontally-oriented deflected root length while the ARPC and SBPC had the most vertically-oriented deflected root length. Trees grown in the ARPC had less roots on the inside of the root ball than all other container types. Container type did not influence root and shoot growth, but impacted stem water potential in the first five months after transplanting to the landscape. Trees frequently irrigated during the landscape phase had greater trunk diameter, height, and generated more new root mass than those which were infrequently irrigated.


2012 ◽  
Vol 30 (3) ◽  
pp. 150-160 ◽  
Author(s):  
Edward F. Gilman ◽  
Maria Paz ◽  
Dustin Meador ◽  
Paul Fisher

Numerous propagation containers have been developed in an effort to reduce root deformities on tree and shrub nursery stock. Root attributes in containers are also impacted by retention time in the container. A popular shade tree, Acer rubrum L., was grown in 6 different propagation containers for two time periods and root pruned or not before shifting to 10 liter (3 gal) black plastic containers to evaluate root system quality. Root pruning when shifting into larger 10 liter (3 gal) containers resulted in more structural roots, adventitious roots from cuts, and woody second-order roots, growing closer to the substrate surface due to a reduced angle of departure from the trunk. Root pruning improved root system quality by increasing the number of straight, radially-oriented roots growing from all propagation containers except for Ellepots placed in contact with other Ellepots which had an equivalent high number of straight roots without pruning. By many measures, all propagation container types produced nearly equivalent root systems provided root balls were mechanically pruned by shaving off roots on the periphery when shifting to 10 liter (3 gal) containers. However, root pruning when shifting had no effect on mortality or trunk diameter growth in 10 liter (3 gal) containers. Without root pruning, the propagation container type and retention time had a large influence on root morphology in 10 liter (3 gal) containers.


2010 ◽  
Vol 36 (6) ◽  
pp. 281-291
Author(s):  
Edward Gilman ◽  
Forrest Masters

This research aimed to evaluate impact of slicing the outer edge of container root balls, initial tree size at planting, and root ball composition on post-planting tree stability in a simulated wind storm. One-hundred twenty Cathedral Oak® live oak were planted in March 2005. Thirty field-grown trees were transplanted, and 60 trees of similar size were planted from 170 L containers. Root ball sides on 30 containers were sliced prior to planting. Thirty smaller trees from 57 L containers were planted without slicing. Trees were pulled with an electric winch, and blown with a hurricane simulator in 2007. Slicing the root ball had no impact on root growth, bending moment, or bending stress. More bending stress was required to pull field-grown trees than trees planted from containers of either size. Growing trees in containers for three years prior to landscape planting changed root morphology compared to field-grown trees, which corresponded to reduced stability. Trees planted from small containers were as stable as those from larger containers. Root cross-sectional area windward correlated the most with bending stress required to tilt trees with a winch and cable. Bending moment scaled to the 3.4 power of trunk diameter.


2016 ◽  
Vol 42 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Edward Gilman ◽  
Chris Harchick ◽  
Maria Paz

The purpose of this study was to evaluate growth and anchorage one year after landscape planting of red maple (Acer rubrum L. ‘Florida Flame’) from both a field and container nursery that were stabilized with above- or belowground systems. Trunk diameter increased more for trees planted from containers with soilless substrate (17 mm) than trees with a soil root ball from a field nursery (14 mm); however, there was no impact of nursery production method on tree height. Trees secured with a guying system grew less in trunk diameter than trees secured with a belowground system, with a tall wood stake system, or the non-staked control. Guyed trees were taller than trees secured with a root-ball stabilization system. More bending stress was required to winch trees transplanted from the field nursery than trees from containers immediately after releasing stakes one year after planting. There was no difference among stabilization systems in bending stress to winch to any trunk tilt angle, indicating similar anchorage across systems. Moreover, trees stabilized for one year required the same bending stress to winch as controls, indicating that stabilizing trees for one year with any of the systems tested did not reduce anchorage compared to non-stabilized trees.


2015 ◽  
Vol 41 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Edward Gilman ◽  
Maria Paz ◽  
Chris Harchick

Influence of root collar depth in a nursery root ball and potential root remediation when planting into the landscape are subject of increasing research. Mulch placement on root ball surface at planting has also been called into question recently. Trees planted deeply in nursery containers required ≥41% more time to remove substrate and roots growing over the root collar at planting than trees planted shallowly. Circling roots on trees planted from 170 L containers persisted for five growing seasons after planting into the landscape unless remediated by pruning at planting. Root remediation improved Ulmus and Acer root systems by dramatically reducing percent trunk circled with roots without influencing post-planting xylem potential, crown growth, or anchorage during the first five years after landscape planting. Mulch placed on the root ball surface caused more re-growth of circling roots on Acer—but not Ulmus—following root remediation. Bending stress to tilt trunks was most correlated with cross-sectional area of leeward and straight roots on Ulmus or windward and straight roots on Acer. The initial increase with time in bending stress required to tilt trunks after planting followed by a drop in bending stress suggests that trees planted from nursery containers could be more susceptible to uprooting in a wind storm as they became established beyond three or four years.


2015 ◽  
Vol 41 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Edward Gilman

Branches present in the tree crown at planting can become obstructions in urban landscapes, requiring large pruning cuts later and possibly creating weak structure by growing upright to comprise a large section of the crown. Pruning at planting, currently a discouraged practice, could shorten or remove selected branches and thus improve the structure of a newly planted tree. Acer rubrum L. trees planted into soil from 170 L containers were pruned at planting to subordinate the largest primary branches, or not. Pruning induced a 26% reduction in total cross-sectional area in the five largest primary branches. This sizable reduction in growth on pruned branches resulted in a significant reduction in aspect ratio of the largest (11%) and three largest (10%) branches. The negligible pruning wound from raising the crown on pruned trees would result in little trunk dysfunction when branches are later removed for clearance, and the debris would be minimal. Tree height growth after three growing seasons was unaffected by pruning; the 8% slower trunk diameter growth might be difficult to recognize in a landscape. Bending stress required to tilt trunks three growing seasons after planting was equivalent with or without pruning.


2015 ◽  
Vol 41 (5) ◽  
Author(s):  
Edward Gilman ◽  
Maria Paz ◽  
Chris Harchick

Plants were grown in a 2 × 2 factorial combination of planting depth in nursery containers and at a landscape installation to study effects on root architecture, growth, and mechanical stability of Magnolia grandiflora L. Planting depth into containers or landscape soil had no impact on bending stress to tilt trunks 40 months after landscape planting, and impacted neither trunk diameter nor tree height growth 68 months later. Trees planted 128 mm deep into 170 L containers had more circling roots at landscape planting and 68 months later than trees planted shallow in containers. Root pruning at landscape planting reduced the container imprint rating on the root system to one-third of that absent root pruning with only a 4 mm reduction in trunk diameter growth over 68 months. Improvement in root architecture from root pruning likely outweighs the rarely encountered downside of slightly less anchorage in an extreme weather event simulated by winching trunks. Trees planted 5 cm above grade were slightly—but significantly—less stable in landscape than trees planted deeper (10 cm below grade). Root pruning at planting to remove roots on root ball periphery appeared to improve root architecture while only slightly impacting growth and anchorage.


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