22 — North Shore News — Sunday, January 30, 2000

WE marvel at the extensive framework of branches and leaves on a large tree but tend to forget there is an equal sized network of roots ander the ground.

Most gardeners will judge the health of a tree by its appearance and growing conditions above ground and ignore what is happen- ing below ground.

From the time a plant’s first roots start to form from a seed or vegetative cutting, they are affected by pee wt It is thought that the extra growth hormones found in -- the root tip makes it suscep- tible to gravitational pull. - Roots that have had their” tips severed seem to tem-~ porarily lose their abili grow down. Other studies have found that some roots may grow down to get away from cosmic radiation or a part of the light spectrum that we can’t see. Some trees such as arbutus develop long tap roots while others such as flowering cherries prefer

FiOME AND GARDEN

to grow their roots on the surface. The growth pattern of a tree root is important to know when planting new specimens.

The root cells in various trees seem to be adapted to certain conditions and will not tolerate a sudden change in growing conditions. Trees with shallow roots will often die if several feet of new soil (fill) is placed over them. The same thing can happen if large amounts of soil are removed or the roots are covered with blacktop or concrete. Severing large roots on trees can cause the tree to die or be destabi- lized. Running heavy equip- ment over the root arca and compacting the soil can also cause serious damage to established trees.

Root colour varies greatly with age and from plant to plant. Generally, the root tips are white and then curn yellow and brown as they -age and increase in size. Black roots ‘usually mean the

foot is dead but there are ..

exceptions. Te has been estimated that

“a very large-mature oak tree

will have as many as 500

‘0... million root tips as part of the root structure below the |

ground. These root tips have the ability to draw 400-500 litres of water from the ground on a warm day and pump it into the atmos- phere. The evaporation of this water creates a very sig- nificant cooling effect on the

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Mixed with this iarge volume of water being absorbed by the roots are the nutri- ents that the tree needs to sustain itself and develop new growth, When a tree is severely pruned the roots then have the ability to produce water and nutrients well beyond its normal needs and this encourages the tree to pro- duce an abundance of new growth. Suckers, water sprouts and rank top growth are typical of excess root capacity.

There is more going on in the subterranean world of tree roots than we once imagined. Most trees have one or more types of root fungus that they rely on to help them extract nutrients from the soil. The fungus, for the most part, have developed a symbiotic rela- tionship with the tree. They are called mycorrhizae (fun- gus root) and can send out 300 cm of fungal threads for

every centimetre-of root that. .

is-colonized. The fungal threads are very cfficient at bringing nutrients and mois- ture back to the root.

One form of mycorrhizae that infects leguminous plants has the ability to con- vert nitrogen from the air into plant food. This is why

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‘and the-fir

farmers

often plant peas or

clover as part of a crop rota- tion pattern.

Recently, plant scientists have discovered that one fungus can infect two differ- ent trees, thereby, linking their two “plumbing” sys- tems. They discovered this connection by planting Douglas fir and white birch trees close together and then enclosing them in separate greenhouses. By injecting different forms of carbon dioxide and then testing the tissue of each plant, they found the different carbon . atoms had been exchanged: Further study:showed’

tile to fir trees rather than symbiotic. Having the right combination of plants and mycorrhizae seems to pro- vide disease resistance and will provide the best growth pattern.

Maintaining a healthy soi! and the proper condition for the growth of both mycor- rhizae and plants will give the best results.

-the leafy birch helpéd the-fi "in thé ‘summer. time-whén._.

there was heavy shade, and-—~7

‘the fir helped.che | birch

when thé leaves. Had-fallen in. fuillight:- The mycorrhizae. act.as the traffic’cops directing the flow of nutrients.

The mycorrhizae that infect the roots of salal, huckleberries and blueberries have been found to be hos-

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