A simple pine stump in my yard taught me more than a week of climbing school

I spent three days grinding out a big loblolly stump in my Raleigh backyard, and on the last pass I saw the root flare had been buried under 8 inches of soil when it was planted. That explained the girdling roots and the early decline I'd been hired to remove it for. How many other trees are we planting too deep just because it's the fast way to get them in the ground?

2 comments

2 Comments

tylerw729d ago

Eight inches of soil over the root flare is crazy. I see it all the time at new housing sites where they just drop the root ball in a hole and pile dirt on top. That pine never stood a chance. It makes you wonder how many subdivision trees are just on a slow death sentence from day one.

ivan2119d ago

You're right, @tylerw72, it's a widespread planting flaw that dooms so many young trees. The slow girdling of roots under that soil mound often takes years to show obvious decline. By then, the homeowner is left wondering why their expensive landscaping is dying.