(105) Holding Bareroot Colorado Spruce Trees in a Gravel Bed

Abstract

Field-grown conifers are usually discarded if their root balls break during digging, but using an alternative holding system until the root systems recover could reduce production losses. The objective of this study was to determine if a gravel bed could be used as a holding treatment for 1.5- to 1.8-m-tall Colorado spruce (Picea pungens) trees that had soil removed from their root systems in the spring. Root systems from 12 trees were washed free from pine bark mulch and soil before the trees were randomly assigned to a gravel bed. One bed held a mixture of 88% pea gravel (1-cm minus), 2% Turface®, and 10% silica sand (by volume). The other bed contained a mixture of 90% basalt gravel (1.2-cm) and 10% sand. Trees were grown in the gravel beds for 5 or 6 months before height increases were determined. If the terminal leader died on the tree, the next highest lateral branch was measured for its increase in length. All trees survived and actually grew a little during the summer after removing all the soil from their root systems. Several trees suffered slight needle burning at the ends of random branches, but the damage appeared minimal. Tips of several small branches randomly located around the canopies on several trees died back, and up to 10 cm of the terminal leaders on about half the trees died back. Height increases were similar among the different trees grown in the two types of gravel, with the mean increase in height being 8.9 cm. The trees regenerated many roots in both types of gravel. In fact, new roots formed all over the root systems and encased large amounts of gravel, making its removal difficult. This study demonstrated that gravel beds can be used to help 1.8-m tall Colorado spruce trees recover from severe root losses.