Check this out - fun stuff

[Mark]

http://takingplaceinthetrees.net/

[4seasons]

I just scanned thru, but do you feel this is a better way to transplant larger trees?

[CaptainsLS]

Why do you guys get to have all the cool tools?:(

Do you even need to use a shovel or does it blast the loam out of the trench?

[paponte]

That's gotta make a dust plume over the guy that's doing the removal?

[GDK]

It's a cool tool....I had the privilege of trying one out......It's primarily used for root collar excavations (mostly times that people plant a tree too deep or pile too much fill up around the root collar of a tree).....Do you typically follow a one foot to one inch of trunk caliper for digging trees or do you have another standard that you follow?

[Mark]

I will comment more on most of this later but this type of process has taken all "rules of thumb" and made them obsolete. Typical standards for digging only leave maybe 25-35% of the root system behind and actually removes the most important roots from the tree....the smallest most fibrous are typically all cut off. Not to mention that modern mechanical digging practices rip and fracture the roots so bad that it potentially leads to the death of the trees. I could write for hours on this through our experiences over the past year....

[GDK]

I will comment more on most of this later but this type of process has taken all "rules of thumb" and made them obsolete. Typical standards for digging only leave maybe 25-35% of the root system behind and actually removes the most important roots from the tree....the smallest most fibrous are typically all cut off. Not to mention that modern mechanical digging practices rip and fracture the roots so bad that it potentially leads to the death of the trees. I could write for hours on this through our experiences over the past year....

I do agree for the most part....I really don't like tree spades in that they do tear roots and the root's wound never closes...I always make sure to go back and make clean cuts where roots are cut. My only question which this technique is where do you stop? A fibrous root can go for hundreds and sometimes a thousand feet.

[Mark]

Okay.....answering questions

For starters, yes this certainly is a fantastic way to move large trees. It might not be the only way but it certainly provides new opportunities to deal with specific plant and site situations. When you move a tree you start on the perimeter of what you might consider the outermost point in which roots exist. How do you answer or define where that may be? Well, you need to know a little history about the tree if possible. How it was grown, maintained (meaning was it ever root pruned), how was it planted, was it irrigated, what planting practices were used at time of install (meaning how was it backfilled and with what type of material), how long has it been in it's current location, and what other elements are neighboring the said tree (hardscape, buildings, driveways, woodlands, turf, etc). These all can ultimately effect where and how long your existing roots are for various reasons. Once that perimeter is established you work your way into the stem of the tree to a point in which you think you are able to mechanically lift the said plant. Typically, you are always able to be left with a "pan" of soil that is remaining. The size of this is dictated mostly by what you are able to lift and can be the same size or larger than what other practices leave you with when you mechanically dig a plant. With that being said, you are already at this point in the same situation as you would be with a B&B or spaded tree except for the fact that you have harnesses of the most important roots attached to it which you have kept moist and if broken you have had the opportunity to clean cut for proper healing. If anyone is able to lift a tree that has a root system hundereds and or a thousand feet long I want to watch! The process certainly has some limitations as any process would. A fifty foot wide root system okay I buy into that! If possible it is best to mechanically dig a trench around the perimeter of the boundary of the now defined root zone. This allows you to blow soil into the trench and be moved mechanically without impacting the roots or using those awful manual tools we call shovels...although ultimately at some point a shovel is handy to have! The process of using the compressed air certainly can create quite the "plume" of soil floating through the air depending on type of soil and it's moisture content....you should always saturate the root zone of the tree for a couple days prior to excavation to aide in maintaining proper turgor, to reduce stress on the plant, and to keep dust down. All said and done though you definitely go home with dirt in your ears, down your pants, in your shoes, under your hat, on your truck, and just about everywhere else you don't want dirt! Through the relocation process of your specimen you have the chance to lay the root system out in a structural manner that is more beneficial to the long term development of the plant. While you are doing this you want to flood in the backfill material to be sure you have filled all the air pockets around the pan and the now splayed out root system. Surprisingly in most applications staking is not needed to secure the tree after relocation as you have so many roots that the surface area of them is greater than what a root ball would be and provide more friction with the soils because of that. Now all of you are saying "yeah right" as I did when someone first stated that to me but it is true. In some applications though we do guy a tree if it is in an area that receives consistently high winds, has a canopy that is off balanced weight wise, or if it is decided to be simple insurance for the 'what if' situation. Remember, you always have a pan of soil that the tree is still secure in that stabilizes the plant as well.
We have had great success in our experiences of using this tool that encompasses SO much more than trunk flare inspections or as what most refer to as root flare or collar inspections. We now use this tool on ALL of our newly planted material that range in size from 2" cal all the way up to 9" cal not only exposing flares but also removing girdling roots, removing / cleancutting fractured roots, redirecting roots for longer term structure, removing root mats on top of B&B stock that has been irrigated for long periods of time, etc. We are using this for root ball weight reduction so we are able to locate and install large trees in places that are less accessible and can use smaller pieces of equipment to do so. We are using this for installing and digging utility trenches through wooded areas as to not disturb the root zones of existing trees. We are also using it to expose root ends after excavations for foundations or other major land cuts and be provided the opportunity to clean cut the roots on neighboring woodland trees that typically would be left fractured, shattered, bent, broken, and generally all f'ed up from excavators and other large site work equipment. This is also a fantastic tool for cultivating soil that has been compacted from equipment, foot traffic, or other influences. Through the process of cultivation we are able to add in new soil amendments to rejuvenate stressed plants. Finally, it does a great job cleaning out the tracks of excavators and tracked skids of mud and debris that typicaly would take you a large volume of time to remove.
I am sure there are a few other practices I have missed here but in the end it's an awesome tool!

[cgland]

So what are you trying to say? LOL! Great info Mark. Always on the cutting edge!

[Mark]

you want me to tell you what I am trying to say? Are you sure? I will give you some current thoughts/insight into mass plant production practices tonight! LOL

[cgland]

No Thanks! LOL!

[GDK]

Sounds like a great system. You did answer my question in how far out to dig. I was certainly exaggerating immensely about digging a ball hundreds or thousands of feet, but in reality fibrous roots do stretch that long on some mature species. It's crazy to think, but I can't remember what school did the study....Anyways, cool system you came up with.

[Mark]

For starters I in no way came up with this but we like to consider ourselves a part of a handful of the few early people to believe in the process. Everybody is still learning alot about this through experience and time but thus far everything has really been very positive.
I know there are trees that have expansive root systems but like I said at that point in the trees life we wouldn't even be discussing moving it or adressing any real diagnostic work to their root systems. Their are obvious limitations to everything

[Sierrascaper]

We have also been using large tree bare root transplanting as well. I first came across it a few years back in a trade magazine where they moved a rediculously large oak. Our methods are slightly more primitive, but effective. The benefits are mostly in the tree health. There is much less stress and it adapts to its new home years faster. Other benefits are the ability to move much larger trees than you would be able to with a root prune method. Largest tree we moved was a 20' Acer Palmatum with a root zone that stretched 15' in diameter. It did not lose a single leaf. Customer was very happy. Took much longer to perform than a spade truck and the price reflected that, but you cant put a price on a mature tree like that.

[danf]

Mark, I'm sure we have the same thoughts on the mass production of nursery stock. ;) Too much of the "here and now" attitude, and not enough of looking ahead to the future of the plant. In the last 7-8 years I can only recall a handful of trees that I have planted that I did not have to remove at least 4-6 (sometimes 8!) inches of soil from the top of the root ball to expose the flare. The growers don't care, but they all fail to realize just how much money they are loosing by not selling the caliper trees for the actual size they really are....

[GDK]

For starters I in no way came up with this but we like to consider ourselves a part of a handful of the few early people to believe in the process. Everybody is still learning alot about this through experience and time but thus far everything has really been very positive.
I know there are trees that have expansive root systems but like I said at that point in the trees life we wouldn't even be discussing moving it or adressing any real diagnostic work to their root systems. Their are obvious limitations to everything

Absolutely agreed.

[MuirView Design]

Mark, how would one go about getting setup with the right equipment to do transplants like this? Are the air tools custom made, or readily available through a dealer?

Can you guys elaborate on what someone should look for when planting new (mass produced) tree stock as far as exposing the root flare and increasing the chances of survival in the long term?

[GDK]

I know Mark can elaborate more than I can with the air tools, but I know that most of the spades are made by Air Spade and there is one other company, but I can't think of the name at the moment.

air-spade.com

Companies such as Bailey's Tree do carry, the tool itself, but then a large compressor must be purchased or rented. This is a $1500 investment for only the tool itself.


As for the vitality of nursery stock, it is always important to look at the crown. Often times the trees are planted way too deep bare root and have a number of inches of soil at the trunk flare. This soil can be scraped off, but in doing so many of the fibrous roots are disrupted. So, it is best to stay away from using this stock and looking for material that was properly grown.

As for container grown trees, I personally don't like them. Often the trees sit in the pots too long and become root bound and eventually the roots girdle. The roots continuously circle and this greatly effects the long term vitality. I always try to remove these trees from the pots to evaluate their condition prior to purchase.

I use Carl Whitcomb's book Establishment and Maintenance of Landscape Plants II as an expansion of this topic. It is a really good book that discusses nursery stock, roots, etc.

[MuirView Design]

Found this on youtube. - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=21lRgn3JTM4&feature=related Great explanation of the Air Spade.

Also - http://www.treehealth.com/tree-service/soil-root-care/aeration-the-air-spade

[danf]

Air Knife is the other brand, I believe. Mark has told me there is a big difference between the two brands- the spade is much faster than the knife...


Often times the trees are planted way too deep bare root and have a number of inches of soil at the trunk flare. This soil can be scraped off, but in doing so many of the fibrous roots are disrupted. So, it is best to stay away from using this stock and looking for material that was properly grown.
Good luck finding "properly" grown B&B stock. :rolleyes: As I mentioned earlier, there has only been a very small handful of trees that I have planted in the last 8-9 years that have not had several inches of soil on top of the root flare.

The problem starts when the trees are lined out in the nursery- many times the holes are augered and are too deep. Rather than adding some soil back into the hole to bring it to proper depth, the tree is shoved into the hole and backfilled. I'm sure that the planting depth is also an attempt to reduce staking needs of the bare root stock.

The problems are further compounded at this point when the roots are too big for the hole that is augered. Rather than pruning the excess length of roots or (heaven forbid) dig the hole a bit bigger, the roots are simply tucked around the side of the hole and redirected into a circle. Which leads to girdling roots.

To add insult to injury, many tree farms still use cultivation as a form of weed control. When a cultivator is run down the rows of trees, it tends to throw more soil on top of the root flare.

So, by the time a 3/4" bare root tree is lined out and fully grown to 2" caliper, the root flare can easily be 4-6" below the top of the root ball. What many growers fail to realize is that if the tree was grown at the proper depth, they could easily sell that same 2" tree as a 2.5-3" tree. Which adds up to a lot of lost revenue at the end of the day....

There's more I could say, but I'll quit for now. :boink: :D

[GreenMonster]

I think I've seen enough girdled roots in BB stock over the past year to be sold on the bare root planting. The problem with the air knife at this point is simply logistics.

Take for example a small plant job we did this week. It was <$4000 and we still had a truck towing a skid and another truck towing the box trailer. Now we have to go back to the shop to pick up the air compressor to bare root three 2.5" caliper trees? I guess it would be easier to justify on larger jobs but there are enough logistical issues with getting everything together already... make sense? Further, the air knife cost isn't overly prohibitive, but a compressor at $20K certainly can be for a smaller operation.

In these economic times, it seems a difficult proposition to sell to the typical consumer the additional cost associated with bare rooting all of the BB stock. Again, I love the concept and I think it's great you guys are on the cutting edge with this stuff, Mark. I'd like to be too, but I don't see it happening anytime in the near future.

[Mark]

You are correct...it adds another whole element into the picture of what we do. We are trying to schedule ourselves to make this part of every project. For example, a job we have in moultonborough going on for the last year and a half or so. Steve just did a bunch of plantings where he dug all the holes and set all the trees in them. Once that was complete I swung by with the compressor and set him up for the day to make a mass production effort with it. When complete he took the compressor back to me on the way back home. Worked out well for the 20 or so large trees that he had. On smaller projects where you have a couple trees to do it is something that you can still do by hand with some 3 prong rakes, water, and a nursery hook. As far as the financial side of this.....we are currently doing this within the normal pricing structure we have always used for new plantings. For projects that are sold specifically as air tool work we are keeping logs for all our work to try and create some type of standard rates for specific trees, their size, etc. It is too hard at this point to attempt to price some of this work....you just simply never know what you're going to get into nor do you know what the answer to the problem is until you get into it. For example I did a large tree last year that was planted 16" above the trunk flare!!! Not an easy fix when you consider pruning the roots, correcting structure of roots, removing all the excess soil, and then lifting the tree as necessary! How do you price that at the beginning of a project???