The Warm Canuck
Shohin
That's a nice rootball! I doubt you'll have anything to worry about.Well I took a somewhat combined advice approach of semi-bare root, cut off 1.5” of bottom roots and back into same pot with APL mix.
The roots were very dense but not root bound in the pot, if that makes sense, and yes there was a large percentage of pine back/chips in it. Maybe root mass like this is typical for larger maples? After chop sticking, root raking and garden hose washIng for what felt like forever I seemed to be removing more roots than loosening so I called it quits and decided to roll the dice for this season. The exterior 1” or so of the root ball is loose but the central mass of it, while able to absorb water, just wouldn’t give up any soil remaining. There ended up being a good 1.5” of root to pot clearance for root growth. Hopefully it survives to next year for another go at the roots. Maybe lopping off another inch or two off the bottom next year will slowly reduce the height of the root ball without harming the tree.
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I was able to expose a bit more nebari and there might be a bit more flare down there I will also go after during subsequent work.
Now I can sit with fingers crossed on improving the trees health and stare at it planning where to take it structurally over the next few years.
Thanks for everyone’s input and advice.
-Ian
It's interesting that there where no circling roots and it doesn't look like any thick roots, which is surprising with the size of the trunk, in comparison to the root ball size. That's not typical of landscape nursery grown stock, in my experience.
Anyways, once again, that's an amazing find and I look forward to seeing what you do with it. Keep us posted.