Bought tree, not dying but not growing either....

[Bung]

I bought two trees from a nursery, the roots were encased in shade a cloth ball so they grow out of the ground which is common. The guys planted them still withe the root ball shade cloth intact, I figured it would fall apart in the damp soil and the tree would grow but after nearly 6 months I see little if no growth but they are not dying either...do you think it is worth digging around them and removing the shade cloth? I realise at this time of year it is not a growing season, should I wait for the hot weather first and see what happens. Also wondering if pruning them will spur some new growth?

They are nice flowering trees but I'm almost reading to dig them out for something else. They get plenty of water and were planted along with bagged soil from the nursery. They are about 2 metres tall with just a few leaves at the end of the branches only.

[Bung]

[Crossy]

Not really farming, moving to the Plants and Pets forum.

On the subject of your trees, give them a good dusting of a general fertilizer followed by a soaking, then leave them alone for a while. Water if they look stressed but otherwise do nothing, they will get going.

Does that concrete ring go right through the slab?

What's the soil like underneath, we have clay and trees take a while to penetrate?

[Bung]

Cheers, I did look for a gardening section, didn't see it. The cement ring is totally open underneath and ground soil is pretty average, I will wait until the growing season, everything seems stagnant now in the cold weather. Tired of looking at nothing happening!

[drtreelove]

I would replant without the synthetic fabric, to promote good drainage and root growth. Use some compost in the new planting soil, not raw organic matter or manure, but Pui Insee (real compost) or Maw Din if you can find it(CP's sack compost material), but not more than 10% of the soil volume. Don't use chemical fertilizer until plants are established and showing new growth.

Don't prune the tree, it needs as much leaf surface as possible to photosynthesize carbohydrates and produce growth hormones. Don't prune until it shows considerable new growth, and then only prune lightly as needed for structure, not with objective to stimulate new growth. Get the watering right, not too much or too little. Keep the soil surface mulched and use a moisture meter or dig down a few inches with your fingers to assess soil moisture.

Don't expect real growth response until late Feb or later into the spring when other plants around you start growing.

[cooked]

Larger trees can take a year or two to start growing again. I suspect that this tree has been planted too deeply. The roots should be at the same depth as they were before. Your concrete ring doesn't look like a favourable place to plant something, it must get very hot there. Basicallt a roots problem I think. An employee once took a whole afternoon planting and when I came back I discovered that he hadn't taken off the plastic bags. They grew ok! Not to be advised though.

[willyumiii]

Wait and see.

Most trees on my property were planted in the "bags" and have done just fine.

Three years now and I can still see the ugly bag, but trees are healthy.

Be careful not to over water if you have heavy soil.

Plants need air to the roots too and standing water can rot the roots off and kill them.

Your post doesn't say how long ago you planted the trees.

Some plants will just sit there and not grow for a year or so.

Be patient.

There is a good chance they will be fine.

Digging them up and removing the bags is a very bad idea.

You would destroy any new root growth that has occurred since you planted them and it could kill the trees.

For what it's worth...

I am a horticulturist and an arborist.

A member of the International Association of Arborist.

Good luck!

[Bung]

Thanks for the info people. Just lately I have noticed new growth sprouting so think the warmer weather is having a good effect. I was away for four months and suspect the person looking after my house was under watering them also.

Anyway, good to see them growing and some good advice here for reference, thanks a lot!