I have started to upload the arboriculture related courses, that I was teaching at the Auroville Botanical Gardens, to Udemy to make them more accessible to people. It is part of the series to learn about different aspects of arboriculture for aspiring arborists.
There is currently a free course called “What is a tree?” and a paid one on urban tree planting (urban because I believe it to be the hardest place to plant trees). Please take a look, if it interests, and give me some feedback and ratings. Thank you
Follow the links below to enroll in the courses
What is a Tree?
A short course exploring what makes a tree a tree — ideal for beginners and tree professionals alike.
Tree transplanting is a delicate operation that, when executed properly, preserves valuable trees and integrates them into new landscapes as assets with increased value. This guide outlines the essential steps and considerations for successful tree transplanting, small or large. Large tree transplantations require competent and experienced professionals.
Pre-Transplant Assessment
Evaluate Tree Suitability:
Health & Structure: Assess the tree’s overall health, form, and structural integrity. Trees in poor condition may not survive the transplanting process.
Species Consideration: Some species are more amenable to transplanting than others. Research or consult experts to determine suitability. Some trees will simply never be able to be transplanted.
Size & Age: Larger and older trees present more challenges and may have lower survival rates.
Site Analysis:
Obstructions: Identify underground utilities, nearby structures, or other obstacles that may impede root ball preparation or relocation. Ensure there is sufficient access to the new site as this is most often the biggest constraint after a tree has been deemed transplantable.
Regulatory Compliance:
Application Requirements: Check if there are any legal requirements for removal or transplantation of trees in your area with your municipal corporation, forest department or council.
Planning & Preparation
Receptor Site (where the tree will be planted to)
Environmental Factors: Consider soil conditions, drainage, sunlight, and space availability at the new site.
Planting hole soil: Ensure the new location has similar soil to the original site. Amend if necessary.
Planting hole size: Make the hole wider than what the root ball will be by at least 20%, preferably 30%.
Root Ball Preparation:
Size Guidelines: Aim for a root ball diameter at least 8–10 times the trunk/stem diameter at breast height (DBH) (or 1.5 meters (5 feet) from ground level). For instance, a tree with a 10 cm (4 inches) DBH should have a root ball of 80–100 cm (~2.5 -3.2 feet) in diameter.
Depth Consideration: Ensure sufficient depth to encompass most of the root system. Generally, a maximum of 1 meter (3 feet) depth is sufficient.
Example tree root ball dimensions
Larger trees/more delicate trees: Instead of preparing the root ball in one go, they can be prepared over several months by cutting the roots in segments.
Preparing a larger or more delicate tree for transplant
Protection Measures:
Wrapping: Use jute cloth, hessian or geotextile fabric to wrap the root ball, to minimise soil loss and root desiccation when lifting.
Moisture Maintenance: Always keep the root ball moist to prevent drying out.
Timing:
Optimal: Transplant when your tree has a lot of stored energy (not when growing new leaves, as a deciduous tree, nor when fruiting or flowering).
Weather Conditions: Avoid transplanting during extreme weather conditions, such as heatwaves or heavy rains.
Transplanting Process
Excavation & Lifting:
Equipment Use: Employ appropriate machinery to lift the tree carefully, from the base (except for palms, some of which can be handled by the stem) ensuring the root ball remains intact. Protect the stem from damage from machinery.
Handling: Minimize handling of the tree to reduce stress and potential damage.
A crane lifting a tree in the correct manner (from the base and with protection on the stem in case of knocking)
Transportation:
Time Efficiency: Aim to relocate the tree to its new site in the shortest time possible to enhance survival chances.
Stability: Secure the tree during transport to prevent movement that could damage roots or branches.
Replanting:
Orientation: Position the tree in the same orientation as its original location to maintain growth patterns. For example, make a mark on the stem on the north side and ensure it is on the north side when planting.
Staking: Use sturdy supports, such as guy wires, to stabilize the tree until roots establish, if required.
Post-Transplant Care
Immediate Actions:
Watering: Water the tree thoroughly after planting and maintain consistent moisture levels. Put in a schedule to ensure it remains hydrated for at least 6 months but preferable, one year.
Mulching: Ground to be kept mulched with organic matter at least up to the rootball taken and as much out as possible. Mulch is to not come in contact with the stem. Layer to be approximately 10cms deep.
Ongoing Maintenance:
Monitoring: Regularly inspect the tree for signs of stress, disease, or pest infestations.
Ground conditions: Apply mulch regularly as it decomposes. Water during drought periods, at least for the first 3 years after transplant.
Continuing to improve understanding and integration of green infrastructure, specifically trees and their management, into the urban fabric, I will be presenting at this one day event in Bengaluru. Treecare, a close collaborator, will be giving climbing demonstrations.
There is no space to join in person, but to join online, you can follow this Conference Link.
Yes, neem trees lose their leaves every year, sometimes multiple times but, if a tree ends up with dead leaves up in the canopy then there is a problem due to an external factor. Yes, neem dieback has been around for some time and some trees recover from it. All neem trees that I have inspected have been affected by this to some extent. Older trees, very young trees and trees in poor condition or environments will likely be the most affected.
In the image below is the tea mosquito (Helopeltis antonii)which is one way that the fungus (Phomopsis azadirachtae) is transimitted which then causes the specific neem dieback disease (scientific evidence below).
Why do I think this is an issue now?
Because we have had successive drought years and a very wet year both of which can be detrimental for neems. Some of the trees have been defoliated twice in two years and some even more. Repeated defoliation of trees can lead to tree death.
Generally, all trees can be vulnerable to drought, especially to prolonged drought. It depends on their condition and the extent of the drought. With regards to excessive rain, if the roots are submerged for an extended period, they will not get oxygen, so they won’t be able to sustain their system (they can’t burn sugars). This FAO document mentions drought and neems. It is how I eventually came to the conclusion that the neems will not be able to deal with this very well (but it is likely to be consisting of even more factors).
The succession of detrimental events is the usual course for the death of a tree. Unlike us, they are not programmed to die. So, if a tree is affected by a disease, it is then more susceptible to other diseases.
What we are doing is making neem trees more resistant to this disease and improving growing conditions in general for them and all surrounding vegetation.
Method and instructions of what we are doing (anyone can do it): Neem Treatment.
This is slightly old as the method has changed but may be useful: Video of Dr. Margarita Correa (MG Ecoduties) explaining treatment: https://youtu.be/aKFwzTVfmuo
From what I understand (or think I understand) the C4 compost acts a positive environment for germination for the bacillus which then will merge with/inoculate the absorbing roots (which will also be prompted to grow due to the new richer environment, hence the combination). Then the Bacillus will induce systemic acquired resistance (which should help with the Phomopsis) along with potentially helping with uptake of water and nutrients through synergies with mycorrhizal fungi.
To give an idea of what could be affected, when surveying about half of Auroville excluding the “Greenbelt” (~2.5 square kilometres) Geomatics have recorded over 3000 neem trees. So there are potentially over 20,000 neem trees in Auroville.
Here is what has been achieved in Auroville, regarding treatment, so far (I am only involved in some of this):
Contributing financially (it costs about RS55 per tree just for the materials and we are all doing this for free) by using the temporary Auroville FS account for this: 253042
Letting me know if you have other methods which work
Inspecting the trees, plotting them and then monitoring them to see how the treatment is acting
I am happy to come by (locally) and explain, show, teach (can be part of a school or research project).
Please let me know if you treat trees somewhere so we can record it (to later check if it works as intended and get statistics. If you want to be involved in this aspect, that is also possible).
This is the first step in setting up a response to a potentially huge loss of neem trees. All networking and collaboration could be improved and should be and if you want to coordinate efforts, please do so as I do not need, or necessarily want, to be involved.
If you have any other ideas, please suggest them (especially if you want to do the legwork).
Many people think neems are the toughest trees around and will manage “no worries” which begs the question of “why are they affected in the first place?”
A presentation I gave providing a brief glimpse into the effects that trees have on our lives and surroundings in an urban setting.
Presentation starts at 3:30.
Recently, in urban settings, trees are being used more as green infrastructure providing ecosystem services rather than merely street furniture. This presentation illustrates some ways in which this applies.
This presentation uses examples from the U.S, the U.K. and from India, where I am based. It includes the positive and negative effects and ways to improve matters with existing trees as well as potential trees. It is based on experience and research from around the world.
This is relevant for architects, town planners, municipal corporations, engineers, landscapers and anybody interested in improving urban forests through arboriculture.
This is a survey that will hopefully gather the information needed to improve the selection of roadside trees and trees near houses in South East India.
One of the most important factors for roadside and house trees here is to provide shade during the hot summer months. Many deciduous trees in non-temperate regions lose their leaves during this time.
The other most important factor is the ability to survive in the heat and scarce water conditions without high maintenance schedules.
The potential trees are therefore drought resistant and most are evergreen but other aspects have also been taken into consideration.
Please forward this to anyone who may be able to provide feedback of any sort or help out in some way.
Insisting on good quality tree seedlings from nurseries can ensure that your trees will thrive for considerably longer than plants already riddled with defects. This is an important consideration for trees that will live for decades or potentially much longer.
Some things to consider when obtaining trees from a nursery:
Bigger seedlings are not always better. The smaller the tree, the more it is likely to be in establishment mode (growing roots to be able to obtain the necessary water and nutrients for later growth and maintenance). It will need water and mulching to help it along but once it gets established, it may overtake plants that were planted as larger seedlings.
Selecting seedlings with a main stem will reduce potential future issues such as weak branch unions and damage to branches from rubbing branches.
Select seedlings with most branch unions in “U” form. Genetic variations or/and improper pruning can cause some trees to produce weak unions. This has been a major issue at times when large quantities of such stock have been planted along roads or in public places as they lose healthy branches periodically and will eventually need to be removed. This can be very dangerous if they have become large trees.
Avoid seedlings with damaged or diseased branches and/or leaves. This could otherwise mean that your plants would not survive very long and/or they might infect other nearby plants.
Some seedlings are sold grafted. This means that a scion (top bit which determines the fruit and flower) is fused onto a root stock (bottom bit which determines the vigor, ultimate size and drought resistance of the plant). One such example is the chikoo (Manilkara zapota) scion which is grafted onto a Manilkara hexandra root stock which helps it survive in the arid conditions of Auroville. Another advantage of grafting is that the plant will bear fruit earlier than normal as the scion will have been taken from an already fruiting plant. When buying grafted plants, make sure the grafts have fused properly. If a branch grows from under the graft union, you will get flowers and fruit from the root stock on that branch (which is often not wanted).
Check the roots before planting. Many seedlings are kept in containers that are too small for them. This often leads to roots turning around the container and creating girdling roots. The impact of this can be seen years later when such trees topple over or die from, essentially, self-strangulation. Some turning roots can be pruned if they are caught early enough but not if removing them would severely affect the health and then possibly the structure of a tree if/when decay sets in. If small roots are found circling at the bottom of the pot or bag that your tree comes in, they can be teased out or pruned if too thick.
The following two pictures show a tree that has failed entirely due to girdling roots: The tree has a stem diameter of at least 60cms and a height of nearly 10 meters. You can clearly see that it is lacking lateral roots.
We transplanted this (other) tree after it had been in the ground for several years. It had two roots which would have later damaged it and were therefore pruned.
What the roots looked like initially:
How it was pruned:
What was pruned off:
This tree will require a bit more aftercare than if it had been left with the defective roots but the long term effects will far outweigh the initial stress.
In the same way, trees properly grown and prepared in the nursery will be much more beneficial in the long term.
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