The developers contractor planted this maple with a thick metal wire basket (used in transportation) around the roots. Will this be significantly difficult for the tree? Would it be at risk of dying? Must we dig it up and remove it, then replant it?
by Skafern
2 Comments
No and yes. They don’t go away and will girdle the root system eventually. I’ve had to cut down quite a few trees with dieack that I would directly link to the girdling. Most in the same neighborhood . Great builder planting. Customer planted a maple 20 years ago, could name the date, cage was rusty but intact. Made it fun to grind. And the rubber Moultrie isn’t helping anything honestly looks bad. If you’re not going to dig it up and remove the cage you might be able to dig down and get the top of it off. Gives it a lot better chance, and use real mulch please.
I see a rubber mulch ring for the tree. I bought some from Menards. How much wire, what type of wire, what size wire is there around the roots? I have never heard of a wire basket around tree root balls. If you can contact the people who planted the tree, that would be the most common sense way to answer your question.