Repotting Guide: SBBK Feb
Feb 28, 2024:
Repotting Hackberry by Gordon Deeg
Clean up prior to repotting—so you can leave it alone after repotting
Such as, cutting back to encourage interior buds, about to swell
Cleaned base—moss
Cut tie down wires
Prepare soil (Akadama, pumice yuga, kiriu lava, lava. 50% aka, 16% of remainder)
Chopstick from top down, getting rid of old soil
Root Hook (single or double preferred), triple or rake use caution to avoid root damage.
Rake straight outwards—comb away from the trunk
This tree will allow removing 50% of the roots
Caution: Keep the trunk clean, do not handle the trunk with dirty hands. (Dirt can stay on the bark for a while). Like a maple or rough bark pine—hold from the top or wrap with a towel.
Remove as much of the roots up under the tree. Recommended root pruning the base—often where water fails to penetrate and where new roots will fill in.
Recommend using a level on your pot before final potting of the tree. Especially for formal upright or broom style.
Rootball below the lip of the pot, not mounded up. Continuous root growth will lift the root base eventually.
Mound soil under tree, rotate tree and center to seat soil.
Tying down root base: make sure both wires are rotating, not one rotating around the other
Can use bamboo chopsticks under tie down wires for added stability (not balsa chopsticks) also pierces a dense root base with the chopstick within the wires—to fence post the tightening wire from moving up the roots and keeps them hidden.
Keep tie down wires low and not girdle the nebari
Gordon’s Guidelines:
Note: deciduous tree repotting may stimulate longer internodes in response.