r/arborists • u/WoodsGrizzly • Sep 10 '22
Remove adventitious roots? Or prune them off?
Remove adventitious roots, or prune them off?
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u/WoodsGrizzly Sep 10 '22
And by remove. I mean leave them. Or prune them.
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u/spiceydog Sep 10 '22
Nice job exposing the base here! If this were my tree, I'd take off that higher arching one on the right in your first pic and call it done. All the visible roots are growing outwards from the tree and that's the critical thing; very low possibility of potential future girdling roots. Those 'stacked' roots on the left will sort themselves out (slowly graft together) given enough time.
This tree has a healthy future ahead of it, good work!
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u/WoodsGrizzly Sep 11 '22
Thanks! All good to know, Iāve learned quite a bit here but never knew much on here type of roots and if they could graft to the others since they are all so close.
This is a sugar maple. one of four trees I just planted in the back yard. Others are a red sunset maple. A Princeton elm. And a Ginkgo. Figured diversity was my best bet with the way different species have been dropping like flys. Someone will hopefully have a nice large shady backyard in 50 years when Iām gone!
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u/Longjumping_Raisin78 Sep 11 '22
Diversity is always a good call. Seen some Princeton elms die from Dutch Elm Diseaseš
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u/WoodsGrizzly Sep 11 '22
Yeah that one is just a shot in the dark. Iām going to look into having injections done to help prevent it possibly. Just love the look of elms
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u/Expensive_Win_1451 Sep 11 '22
Iād more or less leave this alone look more like a little erosion has exposed these root rather than them being truely adventitious
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u/WoodsGrizzly Sep 11 '22
So I had this planted maybe an inch or so deeper and I just excavated it this little further because I wanted to make sure. It looks wet because I just sprayed it down with the hose to wash off the dirt to get a better look.
Can never plant too high though
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u/Expensive_Win_1451 Sep 11 '22
That makes sense. Iād still just leave it be pruning wise, the right hand root is a little wonky but itās got character āŗļø
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u/Ituzzip Sep 11 '22
The root flare is going to be the main ring of roots and itās good you have them partially exposed. The soil level should cover the bases of those roots with the tops at the surface. Chunky wood chip mulch can cover them slightly to keep them protected but to support the health of the tree that mulch should be well-draining and dry. The higher adventitious roots may have sprouted due to the level the tree was buried at in the container.
If you cut them, it probably wouldnāt hurt the tree and it would drive compensatory growth in the main root system. But if you leave them, it also probably wouldnāt hurt the treeāthey may self-prune on their own since theyāre so exposed (but they may develop bark and survive).
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u/DaddyBoomalati Oct 23 '25
Not an arborist, but I read a LOT before planting my tree. The root at 9 oāclock looks like it isnāt benefiting anything. It looks like it is coming out of the trunk, and not the root flare.
Read this white paper from a university. It seems you have a disproportionate amount of randos telling you to bury your tree too deep, and the one Master Arborist getting voted down. Maybe itās the time of day š¤·š»āāļø
Edit-typos
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Sep 11 '22
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u/WoodsGrizzly Sep 11 '22
Hey, as long as itās not detrimental, wonky is great in my mind. Adds character!
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u/pomegranatesunshine Sep 10 '22
The one time we see a root flare on here, the person wants to remove it š