Stem Girdling by roots...or not?

pasomike

Attached (see below) are photos of the root flares of 7 different ‘Keith Davey’ Chinese Pistache (seedless male clones). Trunk sizes are 3/4 to 1 inch.

These guys look much different than the other 27 we planted. Wondering if I have a stem girdling problem here or what? And if I do, is there something I can do at this time? And what would I do with each one?

Please take a look and let me know what you think!!

Background info. on trees:
All the trees came in 15 gal. and have been planted for one year. Trunk caliper was very small at 0.5 inches. The trees were topped at 7 feet from the nursery, with 2 to 5 leading branches 1-2 ft. long clustered where the trees were topped.

As you can see in the photos, we left the nursery stake (1 1/8 inches in size) attached because of the very strong spring and summer winds that could have snapped the little fellows in two. Fear not...we also double staked the trees...and only lost a few leaders to the wind. This winter we plan on removing nursery stakes and keep the double staking with 3 different tie positions: high, middle, low.

-- Mike

Attached Thumbnails

           

 

Levi Parkin

I honestly can't say that I feel any of those are yet SGRs. You should most definitely remove the stake from the one on the first photo though, that looks like it's probably going to cause some issues. Actually, while on the topic I'm pretty sure that recent research has shown that staking trees is actually doing less than tree owners believe. If anything, you should stake the root ball to help support the tree and allow the tree to continue to sway as it promotes better trunk taper development.

Bernard Keays

Pasomike,

I think you have several issues here with your trees.

As you have stated…

”These guys look much different than the other 27 we planted. Wondering if I have a stem girdling problem here or what? And if I do, is there something I can do at this time? And what would I do with each one?”

You’re probably best to pull each of these seven trees out and start again. I would take them back to the nursery you bought them from and ask for an exchange or a refund.

There are some quiet good treads on this site concerning these issues. Try this one...

Tree Information and Facts, Discuss Nursery Standards

__________________
Bernie