Biodegradable aluminum

doctor_L

doctor_L

Location
tennessee
Just have to share this.
I got a call yesterday potential client wanted advise on some trees planted that don't seem to be doing so well. Within minutes of arriving on site the rep from the company that did the planting shows up to check on the trees. All parties seemed surprised I don't think it was planned for both of us to be there at the same time. Well the few trees were actually like a hundred and a few of the larger oaks were like 6-8 inches looked beyond recovery. We all seemed to agree that lack of water was likely the immediate culprit. Now the guy has a lot more "experience" in planting than I do but I've done my share of digging. I was honest that a majority of my work is pruning and removal.
To the point I pulled a little mulch back and I see twine around the trunk I scrape a little more and there is of course burlap. I speculate that these trees were dug just big enough to drop ball in hole (clay soil) he said they back filled with peat moss and pine bark added super thrive and michoriza. I questioned leaving burlap and and baskets on, and mentioned that it was not what was causing the immediate problem but lt was sure to be a long term issue with their investment.
The rep assured his client it would not be an issue that they have a horticulturist on staff as well as a certified arborist. The special burlap they use will degrade quickly and so would the aluminum basket. He said that removing the basket douse more harm than good.
I believe the client is a sharp individual and was not convinced. But now I'm up at three in the morning and can't get this out of my head. Got another baby on the way endless projects around the house a couple saws torn apart, trying to figure out how to grow and market my little company and still have some family time and I'm up second guessing myself about aluminum breaking down magically in the hard pan clay. Is it some special aluminum alloy they should have come up with 30 years ago when they made that beer can I found with the old pull tab last time I was clearing a fence row that had a little sapping growing out the top? Peat moss I don't think did much for the dry condition either, but hey what do I know I don't plant a million dollars worth of trees every year. I drive an 89 ford widstar to do bids not a new 350.
 
Aluminum oxidizes probably faster than the steel, but probably not fast enough. As far as the bulap degrading, I have removed stumps on 15 year old trees and found intact burlap. We take both off, but pretty sure not what is typically done.
 
I've found beer cans with the labels still readable that had triangular holes punched in them from 'church keys'. I would bet that most of the users of TB have never even opened a drink can that didn't have some sort of built in pop top. A lot of these old cans have steel sides and aluminum tops and they're still in decent shape.

Biodegradible aluminum??? sure...along with uranium isotopes...but...how long?

The 'scaper is a weasel! You know that though, lets hope your mutual client does too.

Give your client the planting BMPs or A300 specs. Push the 'scaper into a corner and force him to backup his stance. Leaving burlap, twine and baskets on has been out of SOP for decades!
 
They want a proposal and I'm working on it. I appreciate any advice I don't yet own an airspade but this would be a good one for it. I do not intend to imply that aluminum never goes a way but ... Any how about the burlap any one ever here of some new form of burlap that degrades super quick?

I don't expect to change established opinions or misconceptions, but I will give some info and pass some links to a client. Just another story that reminds me of how Bull headed we can be at times: about five years ago I stopped by a friends house and notice a row of six fruit trees recently planted still in plastic bags and little mulch volcanoes. I tried to be tactful and educate him and I offered my services free I would dIg them and do it right no charge. He insisted that the bags were perforated and the roots would find there way out. It ended in a fight and I have never been back. Not sure who was being more set in there ways why did I care if he wanted to throw money away?
 
Never heard of it. But, it put a big smile on my face. As far as i know there are two kinds of burlap, synthetic and natural. Natural eventually degrades. You mentioned that there was mulch covering the balls/ burlap. It is possible, if the burlap is above the soil/ mulch, that the burlap can wick moisture away from the ball due to wind. We remove both burlap and baskets here for installs and have high survival rates.
 
The landscaper is full of it. Best practices call for removing the burlap and at least the first two tiers of wire from around the ball.

If the trees are as bad as you say, and they are still under the landsapers warrenty, don't mess with them and recommend they be replaced. Good luck.
 
Source some PDFs from reputable Universities citing Best practices for planting. Synthetic ropes and burlap don't degrade anytime soon. These elements will certainly impede the growth and over time limit water uptake. However the problems many be many and need to be uncovered before any action can be taken. The fact that the twine was wrapped around the trunk and the burlap intact suggests they did nothing beyond scooping out a hole, dropping in a tree and back filling. Baskets are a debatable problem. I've removed them completely while in other cases just the top 2 sections.

How were the holes dug? are the sides glazed? Do the root balls consist of a sandy soil? Peat Moss? Did they use any real soil to back fill? Had they tested the soil? Did they irrigate. Many things to consider before any sort of action can be taken.

Before writing a proposal ask about the warranty, was any given at the time of planting and has it since expired? What is the scope of the proposal? Will it cover an evaluation of the current planting, soil conditions, remediation and corrective actions? Replacement? What you don't want to do is get caught investing a lot of time writing this thing only to find out it was leverage to have the original contractor deliver on the warranty.
 
Thanks, there is no warranty but he said he would replace the obviouse dead Ones. The holes were dug with a spade and he was clear in saying "removing ball and burlap douse more harm than good" he also said that they dig with the transplant spade to avoid the glazing not a direct quote but pretty close. So im presuming the holes are just bigger than the root alls. Back fill is peat moss and pine bark soil conditioner. My understanding of peatmoss is when soil gets dry peat has higher capacity to absorb water than the roots have to hold it. I know there is a term for that but my sleep deprived sun baked head can't recall at the moment. Im not convinced pine bark "conditioner has any value besides filling plastic bags either. But anyway. He claims to have been on site weekly to water. The property is owner lives out of state and was pretty distressed when he got to his property. So he called to get a second opinion and I can't begin to describe the amount of work I'm willing to put into a project like this that property would become my hobby not sitting in the A/C barking orders out the window. Thank you all for your advice.
 
I am writing my proposal and plan to suggest.
1. Excavate future drip line and of course expose root balls
2.remove burlap and wire
3. Mix that clay with some sand a little mushroom compost as well as the future drip line high magnesium Lyme if soil samples confirm my "experience with the local soil.

I check on them weekly and water when necessary.
In a nut shell there it is
Advice highly appreciated.
 
This is a link that I sent to clients phone after about the first four sentences of conversation. Thank you I phone. I did not have time to read it past the first bit but it looked like the right info and I saw the good Dr. Shigo sighted copied, pasted, took about a minute from googling something like basket burlap planting, to hearing phone beep next to me. Think it was first on list.

web page

Just now occurred to me I better look at the message and see what I had actually sent I could not have stumbled uppon a better list of citations. Again thank you again iPhone.
 
tree spade dug holes will have glazing by the very nature of the process. This guy just doesn't know period.

Nice move sending that link.

Good luck and send us pics!
 
For some reason, I am thinking the study that ID the glazing problem also addressed the burlap? It was about water diffusion or something. Anybody know when that was done and/or by whom, where it was published?
 
Study?

I was taught not to have machine dug holes for planting in 1976 when I was in college. My teacher was a Landscape Architect who was a grad of one of the Iowa Universities and had been in practice for many years. This must have been common knowledge WAY before that.
 
I saw something somewhere. In my earlier time in this field, I didn't take much for notes which I regret now. I can picture the setup in my head. They were using a clear glass structure and photographed and measured absorbtion through burlap and also (I think) across soil horizons, like spade glaze and root ball for example. Wouldn't mind locating that, but I don't remember where it was published.
 
[ QUOTE ]
tree spade dug holes will have glazing by the very nature of the process. This guy just doesn't know period.

He knows, his is on the line and he is just BSing the client. He can't admit the job was not done properly.
 
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