rockm

"This would make the tree much more likely of surviving collection, without jepodizing your plans for it later down the line...."


"can i apply tournaqutes below the soil line as appose to the trench dig method.... "

You seem to be of the opinion that tourniquets are "safer" than trenching. I'd say the opposite would proably hold true, depending on where you put the tourniquets.

Digging a trench will not sever all the finer roots on a larger root, leaving some behind to help the tree recover. With a tourniquet, you are crippling ALL the roots below where you place it. If you place it too high on a main root you will choke off all the roots below it. Trenching is done further out on the rootball, preserving many feeder roots. If you're thinking of placing tourniquets that far out, I'd ask why? Trenching accomplishes the same thing...if you see what I'm saying...

By the way and speaking form experience in collecting a few trees, a cleanly sharply cut root end is going to produce more roots than a root that's been crushed and strangled by a wire...