Planting a tree set on limestone...
 

As an out-of-stater new to Austin (NW), I went out and bought a tree
last year thinking I could just dig a hole with my shovel and plant
it... Hah. Of course I was surprised when I hit solid bedrock 16"
down. The tree (a Drake (Chinese) Elm))was in a plastic container,
don't know how many gallons but it just fit in the 16" deep hole I
dug... So I set it on top of the bedrock and filled in (diameter was
about 3x that of the root mass diameter).

My question is, is it ok to put the Drake Elm on top of bedrock like
this? It's been one year, the tree looks great, but hasn't rooted
much. Am I going to end up having to dig out the tree after a few
years?

Thanks :)

Planting a tree set on limestone...
 

My question is, is it ok to put the Drake Elm on top of bedrock like this?
It's been one year, the tree looks great, but hasn't rooted much. Am I going
to end up having to dig out the tree after a few years?

FWIW, all of the trees in my front yard, about 30 live oaks and a few other
species, are all in 30" of mixed soil and rock with solid bedrock underneath.
A water line was put in at a depth of about 6' a few years back and the bedrock
in the trench was solid and unfractured. Its hard to imagine that those live
oaks live so well in 30" of dirt, but they do, and with very little watering on
my part. I don't know about Drake Elms, but I would have to say "If it ain't
broke , don't fix it".


Gary Brady
Austin, TX

Planting a tree set on limestone...
 

Limestone is fairly weak, the roots won't give up, if they want to go deeper
it may just take them longer.

But it's also going to depend on how that species' root structure grows.

The Live Oaks Gary mentioned have a very shallow structure, spreading out
wide but not going too deep. (They'll also interconnect with other live
oaks, which is unfortunately one of the methods that helps oak wilt
contaminate surrounding trees once it has set in).



"Paul" wrote in message
...
As an out-of-stater new to Austin (NW), I went out and bought a tree
last year thinking I could just dig a hole with my shovel and plant
it... Hah. Of course I was surprised when I hit solid bedrock 16"
down. The tree (a Drake (Chinese) Elm))was in a plastic container,
don't know how many gallons but it just fit in the 16" deep hole I
dug... So I set it on top of the bedrock and filled in (diameter was
about 3x that of the root mass diameter).

My question is, is it ok to put the Drake Elm on top of bedrock like
this? It's been one year, the tree looks great, but hasn't rooted
much. Am I going to end up having to dig out the tree after a few
years?

Thanks :)