Thanks for the post Sean, helpful to me, too. The nursery that I bought bare roots from said to mix compost 50-50 with native soil, and so did a landscaper/gardener that I chat with. I think I even have instructional flyers from various sources that say to mix 50-50. So it seems to be the consensus, although wrong. All my trees are planted that way. I"m wondering–since I plant mine fairly close together, maybe it will keep their roots from competing too much with each other, but, alas, probably at the expense of vigor. Bummer.
I have some that I’m worried about. If I put my drip nozzles far enough away, will the roots stretch out and solve the problem?
Lizzy,
The only thing I would worry about is the constant circling of the roots. In my nursery row space was limited so each tree was planted about 2 feet away from the next. The other trees roots went every where. I was pulling on roots thinking they were from the tree in front of me but in actuality they were from a tree 2-3 spaces down. With the Splash there wasn’t a single root that exited the original planting hole. Not one. Funny thing is there wasn’t a single root that entered either. But the main thing is the roots never left. They got bigger and bigger and just circled.
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Jimmy,
I’m not sure. I would assume if you could make it to where there is no water near then they might. Only problem is the ground is like a sponge. Roots are very adept at getting every last drop of water so what might seem bone dry to us a plant might just find enough water there to be somewhat happy. Maybe, just maybe when the tree goes dormant you could dig around and take a look, cutting what needs to be.
For the benefit of the many new members who have arrived since last March, and as a reminder to all of us who will be doing spring planting, I’m bumping this timely reminder of what not to do.
Also, many have been helped by this lesson because Sean posted such a good visual example of the result of his errors. Yet only one person bothered to give him a “Like”. Now that we’re warmed up and accustomed to using the forum and the Like option, how about telling him, “Thank you,” if his post helped you understand the reasons for not amending soil in planting holes. I only now added mine, but better late than never.
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Thanks for the reminder Muddy. We get so accustomed to reading the vast amount of information available on the internet that we forget that someone took the time to share the information. Us southerners have long had a reputation of being courteous but as I get older being thankful for help appears to be eroding. Thanks for the reminder Muddy.
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This thread will be useful for years to show newbies what NOT to do!
Thanks Sean2280,
This is the place to get great info and those pics teach us a whole lot. Thanks so much, my understanding of what to do and not to do has been simplified as I know now, how to save the majority of my trees! (or at least, have them last for a long time)
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At the risk of being slightly contrarian, and as a person who doesn’t grow large trees, doesn’t grow trees in pots, and never amends the planting hole EVER, I’m still not seeing adverse effects on the tree itself. How is the circled root behavior different/worse than being in a pot? Trees in pots are less than ideal, but I see people doing it a lot.
The smoking gun here would be a dud tree that gets dug up for postmortem and then, BINGO, twisted roots or infested with nematodes, etc. I’m seeing this behavior as being applicable where you might not want adventurous root systems.
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Again, not having a dog in this hunt, and viewing this purely as potted in ground but potentially lacking proper drainage (which the location could have had regardless) --just because a+b=c doesn’t mean that there isn’t some other factor in play. There would need to be some controls to draw hard and fast conclusions. It could have been a+b+?=c.
If it walks like a duck…
Amending holes causes improper drainage. You make a bath tub.
He has controls now, the trees are planted properly and appear not to be dead. Good enough for me!
As far as what girdling roots do that is extremely well documented. And trees will die in pots without root pruning every few years.Quite cut and dry if you ask me.
You can amend holes, you just need to mix in native soil, this seems to help. I amend with poorer soil not better soil, as I mound my trees and can’t always collect enough native soil.
There may be more than one lesson worth learning or reviewing:
http://www.davewilson.com/home-gardens/growing-fruits-and-nuts/planting-your-backyard-orchard
I mound my trees to make sure they don’t sink too far into the ground and also make sure the root flares are exposed. My soil drains well already. So when they settle down a touch they are still above ground level, and again that the roots are not buried that deep. Some believe deeply buried trees affect the immune system of the tree,(it’s not getting enough oxygen to the roots). making it susceptible to infections. I have not seen any research of this, so not sure it’s true or not?
Still if put at ground level they can settle and water pools at the base. I think we can all agree this is not a good thing.
I don’t make them super high or anything, just enough to be above the grade of the surrounding ground.
I think the primary concern is whether you KNOW you’re growing it essentially as a tree in a bowl. If you know that’s what’s happening, you can control flooding, stake the tree appropriately, fertilize closer to the roots and dig the tree periodically to root prune. What’s bad is assuming you gave your tree a headstart on other trees in the ground by amending the hole, assuming it will be as sturdy and well anchored as other trees in the ground, and that draining isn’t an issue because it’s in the ground.
Knowing is definitely the issue, so you can act appropriately.
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Well said. @MisterGuy. There is value in knowing the growth pattern. I’m just offering that it isn’t an automatic death sentence (in and of itself). For me it’s been easy to just follow the DWN instructions for Backyard Orchard Culture. 
admittedly it is not something i am adhering to because whenever i buy potted trees from home depot, i am not inclined to loosen up the rootball which has formed coils in the pots-- afraid that doing so will damage the roots and may kill the plant there and then. I could presume many others do the same for the same reasons.
so technically the roots–and the rich friable compost it is growing in-- remain undisturbed.
it has never been a problem for me all these years
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You never root prune before planting your trees?
in zero humidity of las vegas, especially in late spring or summer, it is not something i’d risk doing.
and even in more humid and cooler areas, never really did it.
i actually think solid rootballs are a mechanical advantage against tropical typhoons and desert storms, because there’s no need to stake the tree, even when the hole i dig isn’t so deep. I simply dig a cylindrical hole approximately the size of the rootball, then plop the solid rootball, and the tree and mass of roots will be held by the collar of hard caliche/compact earth.
loosening and trimming the roots will decrease the bottom-heaviness and rigidity at the base, which will not be compensated for even with additional soil, since soil that one will be pouring into the the hole will be friable, so the roots, no matter how stiff, will simply cut through the friable soil like sticks against sand, which means the trees could easily be sheared off the ground. A solid rootball will be difficult to pull up or shear off.
just my opinions and personal experience, of course
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No, this is great information as what you must do in your climate is so different than mine. I don’t think you get much mist, salt air and fog. I root prune and prune the tops of my trees upon arrival. Then plant them. Your information taught me yet another thing about orcharding.