Opinions on 'In the Ground or Not'?

Jay

Soooooo as I was sitting and thinking last night a question came to me (again) about the merits of putting a tree into the ground to thicken its trunk. We all know it is the best way to do it but I have some restrictions that I would like anyone's learned opinion on. As you are aware I am talking about in the ground in Zone 5b/6a. Some trees are just not able to take the cold in the winter here, they go into my unheated garage. But what if

1- I place the tree in a oversized training pot in the ground until the weather gets too cold, then into the garage? Any Advantage?
2- I place the tree directly in the ground and carefully remove it to a pot when the temps go down, then into the garage? Advantage?
3- Just move the tree to a large growing box and bring the box into the garage in the winter? Advantage?

Now I know number three is prefered but it will take up the most room in the garage. I am talking about several trees. What is the thoughts of the group??

Jay

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TreeBay

I would suggest #3. *The real benefits from in-ground treatment come over time as the root system expands.

BTW, you can stack the training boxes for dormant decidous trees almost like cordwood, with a fair amount of overlap between boxes or putting other trees in pots between the trunks.

I do this in the greenhouse all the time. -- well all the time in the winter, anyway.

Regards,

Matt

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Tony

I would go with #3 as well. Most trees planted in the ground will just kind of sit there and adjust for the first season and then make some progress the 2nd year and really take off the 3rd. If you were to dig it up every fall I think the progress would be slower than the training box method.

Tony

matsu

Jay: *Growing in the ground is best, but even if you do that you should root prune them every 2 years. *No. 3 is also good assuming you have room. *There is an alternative though that I think works better than No. 3. *Put the tree into a somewhat oversized growing box with a wire mesh bottom (I use 1/4" hardware *screen). *The box should be made of pressure treated lumber and be a few inches larger in each direction than the growing pot you envision for the next stage of the tree's development. *Also, be sure to reinforce the screen bottom with a few cross pieces to support the screen and the root ball. *When the risk of freezing passes in late winter or early spring, bury about one-third of the box and let the roots escape out the bottom into the ground. *My experience is that many roots will quickly escape and that the tree will grow with greater vigor than if you left it in a large growing box and didn't let the roots escape. *You can also do this with a pot (I think your option No. 2), but it doesn't work nearly as well in that the roots have a much more difficult time escaping the pot, and fewer roots can escape. *When the tree goes into dormancy in the fall, prune the roots that hold the box in the ground and lift it from the field for winter storage. *Repeat the process until the tree reaches the desired size. *Be sure you keep the box watered during the growing season to ensure that the feeder root system in the box stays strong. *You will also have to pull it out of the box every 2 or 4 years to root prune. *I would suggest that you root prune 2 years in advance of finally taking it out of the field so you can develop more feeder roots in the box. *I don't have any problem with leaving trees out all year long in my area (USDA Zone 9), but can't leave tropicals out in the growing bed during winter. *I've done this for some time with tropicals with good success. Good luck.

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erocki

Ok...I have a side bar question. I have a White Pine and a few older Junipers that need to be dug up at my folks place. The junipers have been there a long time...but need to be dug up and moved to a better location. I was planning an in-the-ground bed in my yard with protection...but of course I would rather put them into the proper training grow boxes...I always seem to be able to recover sick plants better in grow boxes than the ground.

Anyway, the question is that I do not have a winter harbor anymore for larger trees...can you plant the whole grow box into the ground for winter? mulching...watering...caring for them as if they were in the ground of course. then, pull them up in the spring for additional work I always wonder about better winter protection for the roots. I live in a south suburb of Chgo...Zone 5. It can get pretty brutal.

Any thoughts?

zandona

Just a thought, I started a thread discussing the pros and cons of this method but maybe this could help you:

http://www.geocities.com/bonsaisp/HIDAKA.html

It seems like you would quickly be able to pull them out but when placed over the soil, fine roots (at least the ones in the bottom) would develop uninhibited.

Mcspeed

erocki exactly that, nice grow box, planted for the winter mulched in. I would also suggest some wind protection, do you get wind in Chicago , a burlap screen around it, or better a cold frame.

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