What Habitat Work Did You Do Today?

[Turkey Creek]

I retired the dibble bar after buying the wolverine tree spade

If you try one, you will never look back

bill

What makes it better than the dibble bar for you?

 

[Telemark]

Anyone tried a Brush Pro spade? A lot of pros on Reddit are singing its praises.

 

[Tangler]

Tangler hasa good dibbler right there. I have the same one. Sometimes using it too long it makes your arms rubber though. Bully's stones in the ground alot easier though.

I love this tool ! absolutely fantastic! Planted 200 trees in 4-5 hours, which is good for me. I get noroyalties but just love it.
here is a link.

https://www.amleo.com/leonard-planting-bar-11-x-3-5-pointed-blade-steel/p/PL3811

 

[Tangler]

Planted 16 green giant arborvitae today. screening a road. On sale at home depot. Root bound but cheap so worth a gamble. How do you guys handle root bound plants? I cut slices horizontally into the roots and cut off the bottom aspect (bottom root mass cut perpendicular to plant to sheer off the very bottom in a thin circle of root tangles.
Thoughts?

 

[Telemark]

Planted 16 green giant arborvitae today. screening a road. On sale at home depot. Root bound but cheap so worth a gamble. How do you guys handle root bound plants? I cut slices horizontally into the roots and cut off the bottom aspect (bottom root mass cut perpendicular to plant to sheer off the very bottom in a thin circle of root tangles.
Thoughts?

I use a chopstick or the spine of my knife blade and pick at the root ball to release the peat moss I grow stuff in and loosen the roots. Usually works great, but sometimes I have to cut. I don't generally give them enough time in a pot to get badly rootbound.

If I have to cut some roots, I usually cut some top growth off. I cut a bit more top growth than whatever roots I cut because trees seem to do better when unbalanced toward the roots rather than toward top growth.

If you have to cut roots on Thuja, cut the lower branches rather than the top of the plant. Thuja can send low branches from the trunk out under the lowest growing branches and retain its natural growth habit. I only have experience with wild Thuja and Smaragd (Emerald?), not with Green Giant, but I would guess they are similar.

 

[Tangler]

I use a chopstick or the spine of my knife blade and pick at the root ball to release the peat moss I grow stuff in and loosen the roots. Usually works great, but sometimes I have to cut. I don't generally give them enough time in a pot to get badly rootbound.

If I have to cut some roots, I usually cut some top growth off. I cut a bit more top growth than whatever roots I cut because trees seem to do better when unbalanced toward the roots rather than toward top growth.

If you have to cut roots on Thuja, cut the lower branches rather than the top of the plant. Thuja can send low branches from the trunk out under the lowest growing branches and retain its natural growth habit. I only have experience with wild Thuja and Smaragd (Emerald?), not with Green Giant, but I would guess they are similar.

Hopefully I didn’t mess it up too much. Suppose time will tell.