Q: I heard you speak in one of your plant clinics about the problems of trees and shrubs being planted too deeply. You talked about removing the soil from around the root area. What I don’t understand is how you know when a tree is planted too deeply.

A: Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s famous character, Sherlock Holmes, would reveal the secret to his deductions and often he would be told how elementary and obvious his answer once the connection was shown. You will shortly see how easy it will be to determine when a tree or shrub is planted too deeply in the ground. Trees should have a natural flare at the bottom of the trunk where the root structures are formed. A tree which is planted too deeply will look like a fence post rather than a tapering tree. Ah, that is elementary! Well, yes it is.

Research provided through the University of Florida by Dr. Ed Gilman has shown twig dieback, reduced branch and foliage growth occur on trees planted too deeply in the ground. The upper most root structures should be just at or slightly below soil level as too much soil on top of roots restricts oxygen to the roots. Restriction of oxygen to the root structures reduces the root’s ability to absorb necessary water and nutrients. The best cure for trees planted too deeply is to remove the excess soil from the root area. Leave about 12-18 inches around the base of the tree with nothing but a few inches of soil. Then mulch lightly outside the area with 2-3 inches of mulch, preferably using organic mulch as your first choice. For those of you whose soil is slightly alkaline your best choice of mulch is a pine product such as pine straw or pine bark. Check out Dr. Gilman’s solutions for too deep planting: http://hort.ufl.edu/woody/rootgrowtheffectsdeepdet.shtml

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