Planted a little too deep?

9 years ago

So it's my first year ever planting trees and I think I got burned by the whole "plant the root ball even with the soil" thing. I was just learning today that often potted trees push the soil in the pot up above the root flare so that when they are planted they end up too deep. Who knew? Anyway I started trying to check the trees I put in this year.

The first one I checked is an American persimmon. I pushed the dirt away from the trunk till I found the first roots then measured the depth from surface to roots. Looks like it's between 1 1/2 and 2 inches from surface to roots. The root flare seem to start just above the surface. This tree was planted only a couple months ago. It's only a 3 footer should I dig it up and raise the tree out of the ground?

The second tree I checked is also American persimmon same size. It has one root that is visible at the surface. So I thought it's probably good. But there are no other roots at that level. I kept feeling for them and gently pulled the soil away, the next root is like 2 to 4 inches below the surface. Then a little below that seems like it's the bottom of the tree as it starts to curve back in. Is that normal? I'm not sure what to think on this one. Shouldn't there be roots all the way around the trunk?

I still have to check 2 other trees that were put in this year. I hope they are at the right level their much bigger than the first two I checked.

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Daniel Central IN, Zone 6a
Original Author

9 years ago

ok, thanks all for your input. crazy wind going thus week. I'll wait till that passes then remove the stake and rest easy that it's not gonna die in 30 years from being planned too deep.

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Comments (10)

Daniel Central IN, Zone 6a
Original Author
9 years ago
Oh here's a pic of the measurement I took on the first persimmon tree. It didn't turn out well at all but it captures some of what's going on.
Marie Tulin Boston burbs z 6a
9 years ago
I think a photo without the measuring tape, and at more distance in better light would help us actually see the trunk or your excavation to the root flare.

I'm not an arborist but I eyeball the flare (or dig down to find it). I may be missing something important here, but please tell me what measuring after planting tells us?
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Daniel Central IN, Zone 6a
Original Author
9 years ago
Yeah sorry about the bad pic. I was hoping the measurement would help with the loss of depth perception that comes with photos. I'll try to get a couple more tomorrow when there is better light.
Daniel Central IN, Zone 6a
Original Author
9 years ago

Ok, well after doing some more reading and then some looking more
closely at the tree today I do think there was a problem but I don't think it was
too bad. The tree was originally buried up to the top of the root
flare with just the tiniest bit of the flare showing. It's on a bit of an incline so what I did is I gently pulled the
dirt away till I found the first roots then reshaped the incline around
the tree so that it's even with that. Now the first root is just barley
covered. So I think I've fixed the issue but please take a look at these
"after" pics and see if it looks like it's at the correct depth now:

Ok this is with all the mulch removed and I've dug away the soil down to the first root. I don't know if you can tell from the pic but the surrounding soil is much higher than the soil touching the tree:

This is the best shot. Root flare is obvious the highest root is on the left hand side maybe you can see it...maybe not.

Ok this is after reshaping the slope. You'll note that the ground around the tree is totally on the same plane with the soil touching the tree.

And finally, put the mulch back:

Does this look good? Did I fix it right? Am I way too worried about this? I mean from what I was reading too deep is a really serious problem. A too deep tree won't live more than 30 years is what I read. Appreciate any input.
rhizo_1 (North AL) zone 7
9 years ago
Get RID of the green tapes with their stranglehold on the main stem!
Daniel Central IN, Zone 6a
Original Author
9 years ago
Yeah, it came that way. I wasn't too thrilled about that. I was thinking I'd leave them on for the winter and remove the entire stake in the spring. I'm not fond of staking a tree. The nursery said to leave it staked for a year. I'm guessing it's to protect the graft union as it's still not a super strong union.
wisconsitom
9 years ago
Agree-remove stake...if trunk is not already too weak from having it...as soon as practical. Your over-winter plan won't be the end of the world.

Make sure medium that came with tree gets moistened when tree is watered or rained on-along with backfill stuff.. It still(!)-in tree planting. This looks like it might be OK, not entirely sure. But watch how water acts unless you've already assured it's good. I also notice, during periods of heavy and repeated precip, often seems like everything co mes through just fine, at least during that period.
Daniel Central IN, Zone 6a
Original Author
9 years ago
Ya know on second thought I'm wondering if winter would be a better time to remove it since it won't have the leaves on it to catch the wind and add extra stress to an unsupported trunk.
Logan L Johnson
9 years ago
Remove the stake

==>>>https://caldwellhg.blogspot.com/2016/10/to-stake-or-not-to-stake.html

After that, I would just move the soil away from the trunks a bit, doesn't look like it is planted too deep (not deep enough to cause problems in the future).