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PostPosted: Mon Jul 12, 2010 7:57 pm 
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Joined: Mon Jul 12, 2010 6:37 pm
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I purchased 2 bur oak trees a year and a half ago, they were 4 to 5 inch (caliper). After recently reading in this forum about trees being buried to deep i have been trying to carefuly expose the root flare. the problem is that i thought i found the flare but after further reading i think i may only be seeing false roots. How do i know when i find the flare. These trees were purchased from a local tree farm but it appears that their original root ball was wrapped in some sort of thick felt that has caused some of the roots to circle. Not sure what to do about this. when the trees were planted by the tree farm they also left on the burlap and the wire cage around the burlap i know now that is not good either. can i fix these problems? i think i have attached a picture of one of the roots.


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PostPosted: Mon Jul 12, 2010 8:11 pm 
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Joined: Mon Jul 12, 2010 6:37 pm
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Lets try to post the picture again.


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PostPosted: Tue Aug 03, 2010 2:20 pm 
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Joined: Wed Jul 28, 2010 3:20 pm
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I'm not sure if the advice I received from a retired County Agent out of A&M would be of help. I wrote about 'strangled/girdling root flare' (posted on this forum with pictures) and this is what he replied: "Wait until fall-1st of October and cut 1 or 2 of the roots girdling the trunk. I also might go the edge of the original root ball and dig with a post hole digger down at the edge of the root ball, cutting the root ball and encouraging roots to spread from there. Go down as deep as the original root ball. Again in spring do the opposite side." Maybe you could cut through the burlap in this same way. Just a thought.


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PostPosted: Sun Oct 24, 2010 8:49 pm 
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Joined: Sun Jun 20, 2004 9:12 am
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Location: Dallas, Texas
I think you are right. It seems shameful that burlap still is planted with trees these days. It just doesn't make any sense to me. Your tree photo definitely indicates a tree planted too deep....I cannot see the root flair in the photo. Once you uncover it you will know it. The buttress should be more and the roots larger beneath the flair. On my bur oak, I removed 2 of the 4 roots that were growing perpendicular to the trunk after uncovering them. (advantitious roots). So far they don't seem to be causing any problems. The good news is 1. your bur oak will love you for excavating the flair and will reward you the next season with more vigorous growth. Mine was uncovered 3 years ago, and has improved every year since. The leaves are a darker more natural looking green. The leaves are larger. And the tree overall is much more dense with leaves. The flair has expanded. The branches have spread more. This year the tree produced 100 acorns until the squirrels got to them. Last year there were 25. The first year, less than 10. After you find and expose the flair, leave it alone. Some people build a wall around the resulting ditch, to keep it from filling back it. Some fill it with stones. I left mine as is. I hand trim the grass that has filled in, but thats about it. Also, I've read university research that explained that circling roots (roots circling under ground around the root ball) are not as big a problem for oaks, as they are for maples. This is because oak roots underground usually graft, or fuse together. Whereas maple roots will not do this, creating more of a 'choking' effect to the other roots in the rootball. I also have a lacey oak that looks like it's entire pathetic rootball has cricling roots around it. The lacey is only 5 feet tall, and has been in the ground a year. But I planted it high, and if the circling roots ever become a problem by girdling the tree, then I can easily remove them. Right now, I am leaving the circling roots in tact because they are by far the largest roots on the tree. Good luck.


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