was the oak field dug.. or potted ...

what signs of a problem are you noting.. or are you just trying to kill it with love ...???

ya know .. the thing might only live 30 50 50 to 100 years .. before it MIGHT have root problems ...

how far is it from the house ...

in my MI ... april is oak planting time.. surely not july/august.. but i think you know that ...

no.. i would not auger ... or frankly.. do anything ...

ken

pS: now you know the real reason we all suggest smaller trees.. lol ... they are easier to hoick around...

Sorry Ken, I should have mentioned they were all pot grown and I did not correct for that when planting and just plopped the root ball in the hole. I assume pot grown root systems MUST be cut up some and pulled out for best chances. The Oak and Maple actually look pretty happy. The Oak last season had a handsome leafout.

and yes, these days I only plant when there's no leaves on them. A Burr and Swamp oak went in this April, little bare rooters.

People think about their garden this time of year, but it's not the best time to do everything. I'd wait until Fall or early Spring if you must do this.

What's more, as bad as most of these potted plant root systems are, it is not a given that every species will develop a problem. Some tree species' roots are able to graft together, and often enough, these do not go on to cause issues.

I think I'd put my efforts elsewhere....and do those tings you should with poor root structures....in future plantings. The cure just sounds worse than the disease this time around.

I gently dug away soil around the root crown of several planted trees and was able to cut away some girdling roots. It should have been done at planting, but shoulda, woulda, coulda, etc. I assume it helped some -- the trees are healthy yrs afterwards. You might gently expose the root crown on your tree(s) and post pics here for advice.

I'll leave them alone then. Wisconsitom, do Maple roots graft together? I've heard White Oaks don't like having their roots disturbed and was extra reluctant with that tree, even unestablished. It really has looked the happiest of all that has been put in in the last couple seasons.

One peer-reviewed study I read in The Journal of Arboriculture some years ago found that while all maple species tested were able to develop what look like girdling roots, it was only in Norway maples where this went on to cause problems. And of course, anyone who has managed many trees (in the north temperate zone) will know that Norway maple succumbs to girdling root frequently-almost to the point of making it an unsuitable choice where a long-lived tree is desired. So again, what looked like girdling roots were found on sugar maple, silver maple, Norway maple, and perhaps others. But only in Norway maple (in this particular study) did the apparent go on to cause actual plant performance problems.