Horticulture Research Station

Evaluating Planting Season and Rootball Manipulation on Container-grown Tree Transplant Success

Authors: Grant Thompson (Iowa State University) , Cody McKune (Iowa State University)

Abstract

Proper root architecture is critical for the long-term growth and survival of trees. Root architectural defects include circling, diving, kinking, or imprinting, which is when roots retain the shape of smaller containers when sized up to larger containers. Field grown, container grown or containerized, and bareroot trees all can have root defects resulting from standard nursery production methods. With the rising popularity of container trees, recent research has suggested rootball manipulation techniques, when transplanting trees into the landscape, ameliorates deleterious root architecture configurations imposed by container production.

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How to Cite: Thompson, G. & McKune, C. (2021) “Evaluating Planting Season and Rootball Manipulation on Container-grown Tree Transplant Success”, Iowa State University Research and Demonstration Farms Progress Reports. 2021(1).