What About Wire, Burlap and Twine?
There is some disagreement within the landscape industry about whether the wire basket, burlap, and twine should be removed, or left on. One of the main reasons some say they prefer to leave the burlap and basket on, is because they believe it needs to hold the root ball together, and it is believed that the burlap disintegrates soon enough that it does not interfere with root development.
With the advent of tools like the Air Knife, we can now see the results of not removing the “packaging materials”.This ball was planted in a raised mound and excavated after two years. Note, there are no new roots growing out of the ball yet. Unsurprisingly, this young crabapple had partial dieback of the canopy.
Another tree, this time, planted in the ground: it had been mulched several inches up the trunk, covering the undecayed rope, still tied around the trunk, and burlap. It also had been planted two years before. NOTE: in both photos, natural, not synthetic, burlap and twine were used.
The bottom line: In order for burlap to decompose, it must have oxygen and moisture. Often, there’s one, but not the other. The ball planted above ground had plenty of oxygen, but it was constantly drying out. The in-ground ball had some moisture, but too much mulch above, restricting oxygen. In either case, had the burlap been removed in the beginning, roots would have had a better chance of forming, and the plants would have suffered less stress.
What do “Experts” say about removal of burlap. wire, and rope?
Here is an excerpt of a Forestry Extension web page from Utah State University:
by Michael Kuhns, Extension Forestry Specialist, Utah State University and Brook Lee, Community Forester,Utah Division of Forestry, Fire & State Lands
- For trees in wire baskets, cut and remove wire.
- Cut away strings & burlap or plastic, exposing root ball. Don’t remove soil from ball.
- If tree is container grown, cut and remove container.
- See http://willow.ncfes.umn.edu/pubs/urbanforestry/plant_trees/planting_trees.htm
- Cut and remove the string and wire from around the trunk and top 1/3 of the root ball.
- After placing the tree, remove wires or mesh.
- Don’t use non-biodegradable strings and other (root ball packing) materials.
- It is best to remove the string and pull back the burlap.
- It is wise to remove burlap to examine the roots, or to see if there are roots.
- Basket and burlap must be removed.
To read the entire web page, please follow this link:
http://extension.usu.edu/forestry/HomeTown/Planting_RootBalls.htm
In summary, burlap, if left on the ball, acts as a barrier to normal root growth. Even if roots do grow through the burlap before it breaks down, they tend to be finer, so they can get through the mesh, and not as well able to anchor the tree. As a result, it’s not unusual to see trees lean or blow over.
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