Root pruning while planting from containers

Young liner showing straight roots originating from the stem; no root defects.

Young liner with roots defects. Deflected roots should be cut at the point where they begin to turn.

Two years later, the trees shown above filled out the #3 containers. See root close-up in the photo at right and below.

If the root defect shown in the above right photo is not removed, the defect will be more pronounced two years later as shown here. This circling root should be cut now to prevent it from girdling the trunk. Cut root before it makes a turn so new roots grow away from trunk.

Side of the root ball shows some small diameter roots circling the #3 container. These must be removed to produce quality trees. Click here to see procedure.

A look at the top of the root ball shows small diameter roots circling around the edge of the container. These must be cut now to produce quality trees.

Roots are circling the bottom of the #3 container. These must be removed now to produce quality trees. Use a shovel to slice off the bottom inch of the root ball.

Washing media away showed roots circling around the containers. These must be cut now to produce quality trees.

Root balls that were not sliced had large roots circling the trunk. These were the same small roots that were circling the #3 container two years ago; the small roots grew into these large root defects.

Roots balls that were sliced top-to-bottom along the sides in 6 places had fewer circling roots than those not sliced (compare with left photo). However, we now think that this is not enough and that removing the entire outer surface of the root ball results in the least amount of defects.