Showerthought: Pick the maple with cleaner branching over better trunk flare

Had to choose between a 3-inch caliper maple with perfect trunk taper and one with cleaner branching but a smaller root ball for a downtown park planting last Friday, went with the cleaner branching and it settled into the pit way faster than I expected, anyone else put crown structure above root flare when the soil conditions are garbage?

2 comments

2 Comments

dianagreen1mo ago

Did you see that study from UConn a while back about how urban trees with cleaner crowns actually had better survival rates in compacted soil? Sounds like your call might be the move, honestly.

thomas.cameron1mo ago

Oh man, speaking of UConn, my cousin went there for a semester and kept telling me about this weird squirrel that would only eat from one specific oak tree on campus. Anyway, I think the whole "cleaner crowns" thing makes sense in a weird way, like how my buddy's truck always starts better when he actually washes the salt off the engine bay in winter.