TIL that root flare exposure saved a 60 year old oak I thought was dying

Had a big old oak in a client's yard in Springfield that was dropping leaves and looked rough for two seasons straight. A fellow arborist convinced me to dig down and expose the root flare, and I found girdling roots from a bad planting job decades ago. Has anyone else seen a tree bounce back hard just from clearing out the flare?}

2 comments

2 Comments

christopherj637d ago

Half showed real improvement" is pretty generous in my book. I'd call it more of a gamble than a cure.

miab168d ago

I've seen about a dozen flare exposes over the years and maybe half showed real improvement. The rest either stayed the same or got worse within a year. So I'd hold off on calling it a miracle fix until you see a full season of new growth.