
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: THURSDAY, August 4, 1994                   TAG: 9408040040
SECTION: CURRENT                    PAGE: NRV-8   EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY 
SOURCE: Joe Hunnings
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

WHAT'S WRONG WITH TREES? GET TO ROOT OF PROBLEM

The tree you planted 10 years ago never really did well and finally died. When you pulled it out of the ground, you found a tight mass of girdled roots - so tight, you could still put the root system back into its original, one-gallon container. What happened?

All too frequently, plants that fail to thrive in the landscape or blow over during storms have root problems that probably started when they were planted, or even earlier - in the nursery where the plant was grown. Most structural root problems that lead to unhealthy or dead plants can be prevented or corrected by pruning and straightening before transplanting. Structural root defects fall into three categories:

Kinked roots: Roots twisted at sharp, abnormal angles indicate that a plant was placed improperly within its container.

J-hooked roots: Roots often get sharply bent during machine planting if the roots are swept to one side.

Circling or girdling roots: Roots may grow horizontally around the trunk or other roots because the roots weren't spread when they were shifted to a larger container in the nursery or when transplanted into the landscape.

All these root defects result in a poorly anchored tree or shrub. Normal water and nutrient absorption is restricted. Root defects may not directly kill a plant, but they can weaken and predispose a plant to disease and drought damage.

When purchasing a plant from the nursery, check the surface of the soil for kinked roots. Pull the plant from the container and inspect the root ball. The roots should be small to medium-sized and supple. White root tips are a good sign that the root system is growing. Black root tips indicate a dying system and rot. There should not be large rigid, circling roots.

Check to be sure the plant stem appears centered in the container and that the root mass is symmetrical all around. A J-hooked root often exists when a plant is off-center in the pot.

Root problems can be corrected at planting time. Circling roots along the edge and bottom of the root ball can be corrected by pruning and straightening or ``butterflying'' the root ball. Pruning and straightening are done when the problem is minor; the roots are ``teased''away from the ball, a few are pruned to encourage new growth, and the rest are spread during planting.

To split or butterfly, force a shovel through the bottom third or half of the root mass, creating two flaps. Then use a knife to make several vertical cuts on the top portion of the root ball, cutting through circling roots. The plant is placed with the flaps spread horizontally on the ground, and soil is placed around and over the flaps.

Defects that occur in the trunk surface and center root zone, such as J-hooked roots, are the most difficult to correct safely without killing the plant. It is best to reject any plant with defects in these critical areas.

by CNB