I was watching a video the other day from Howard Garrett who is on the radio here locally with a gardening show. He was discussing the extreme benefit of exposing the trunk flare and when I checked my fruit trees most were planted too deep. I did some work yesterday to expose the flare on them but was wondering what everyone thinks of this philosophy?
I have been wondering about this too. Are trunk flares more of a concern for seedling trees/rootstock?
Clonally propagated rootstock are branches, stems, twigs, whatever that have been rooted and I often see people talking about planting up to/just below the graft union which would seem to imply planting deeper than the rootstock was at the nursery. There is no flare to be mindful of or is there?
Or is this something to be mindful of over time and prevent buildup as the tree matures?
I think it is extremely important. With trees that you can air layer without girdling it doesn’t matter much. But most fruit trees you cannot. If you think mulch right next to a trunk is bad, try soil. Plant on mounds, plant the roots not the trunk. Most roots are near the surface. Burying roots deep takes away the small amount of oxygen they need. Often deep planted trees are stressed and often develop secondary conditions like canker, and aphid infestations. As the natural immune system is compromised from stress. They eventually get there roots back up near the surface and should be fine at that point. I would not lift or move an existing tree, but plant all future trees as high as possible, and they should be mounded for sure. I would move trees where water pools at the base. I’m not really in favor of exposing flares if it means water will pool at the base.