On 9/8/06 17:51, in article , "Nick
Maclaren" wrote:


| On 9/8/06 13:34, in article , "Malcolm"
| wrote:
snip
| I always thought
| roots rarely went straight down but tended to spread out sideways
| completely naturally unless confined by some barrier.

It depends on the species. Many (e.g. walnuts) do drive a taproot a fair
way down. Some (e.g. most? conifers) spread immediately.

Ray recalls that it was done in some way to alter the growth of the tree but
doesn't remember how, precisely. So I've emailed Peter Thoday via the Eden
Project web site. If he answers, I'll let the group know.
--
Sacha
www.hillhousenursery.co.uk
South Devon
http://www.discoverdartmoor.co.uk/