WIRE BASKETS-CURRENT PRODUCTS AND THEIR HANDLING AT PLANTING

Journal of Arboriculture, Jul 2004 by Appleton, Bonnie, Floyd, Scharlene A

Though root tissue may eventually grow around the wires and graft together on the other side, this reestablishment of unrestricted vascular transport may take several years. During the time that restricted vascular transport exists, the tree may become stressed, causing other problems to develop, including insects and diseases, tree instability, reduced shoot growth, and decline and death (Sellers 1983; Lumis 1990; Watson and Himelick 1997).

Even if movement of materials in the vascular tissues is not impaired, basket wire may cause potential problems with anchoring stability. The senior author has observed Norway maples (Acer platanoides) that appeared to have blown over due to flare root girdling. A personal communication to Harris et al. (2004) reported that cottonwood (Populus deltoides), ash (Fraxinus spp.), and pine (Pinus spp.) trees blown over by tornado-like wind appeared to have their roots break at or just outside wire baskets left intact at planting 7 to 10 years prior to the root breakage.

POTENTIAL WIRE BASKET DAMAGE TO PEOPLE AND EQUIPMENT

Whether or not wire baskets pose a hazard to tree roots, they are real hazards to people and equipment (lawn mowers, rakes, etc.). Entire sections and broken pieces of wire baskets frequently protrude above ground, especially with the fairly common practice of planting trees shallow in poorly drained sites or in heavier soils. These aboveground wire sections and pieces can be especially hazardous to children and pets playing in their vicinity In addition, when the senior author questioned arborists who grind out tree stumps as part of tree removal, nearly all questioned had experienced, and many had been injured by, flying metal when wire baskets were contacted by the grinding equipment.

LITERATURE AND INTERNET SEARCHES

To determine what is most commonly recommended relative to wire basket handling at planting, several surveys were conducted in 2002 and 2003. Harris et al. (2004) stated that wire baskets are seldom removed at planting time, although his reference book, and four other major arboricultural references, all suggest that at least part of the wire be removed (Table 1). Watson and Himelick (1997) stated that "the reasons given by contractors for not removing the wrappings (or the critical portions of them) are not usually horticultural. The extra time it takes to remove them may increase the cost of planting, and it may be more difficult to straighten the tree without breaking the root ball if it begins to lean after planting. Thoroughly stabilizing the lower part of the root ball at planting will keep firm root balls from shifting, and they will usually not have to be straightened later."

In a search of the Internet, a majority of the first 50 sites, ranging from cooperative extension publications to magazine articles to recommendations by garden centers, nurseries, and landscape contracting firms, acknowledged the benefits of wire baskets relative to harvesting and handling. While a majority also recommended some form of wire basket alteration or removal at planling, those sites that did not were almost exclusively wholesale nurseries growing field stock.