which trees have deep roots?

[Paul Wheaton]

I've been booking up (and watching some videos) on permaculture. There is emphasis on mixing deep rooted trees with shallow rooted trees. It seems that shallow rooted trees are easier to come by.

Anybody know which trees have especially deep roots? Perhaps a tap root?

[OUVickie]

Originally Posted by Paul Wheaton

I've been booking up (and watching some videos) on permaculture. There is emphasis on mixing deep rooted trees with shallow rooted trees. It seems that shallow rooted trees are easier to come by.
Anybody know which trees have especially deep roots? Perhaps a tap root?

Seems like Cottonwood and Oak have deep roots. Those two seem to grow well in drier climates, which means they would have to have a deep taproot.

[agmantoo]

Paul, I run my own dozer clearning land and I have observed how different species in the area I live are rooted. I know for example that why I pull up against a hickory that it is going to be deep rooted and difficult to remove. Black gum and sweet gum also resent being extracted. Seldom do I remove a pecan but since they are in the same family as the hickory I would expect them to be well rooted also. Oaks, maples, poplars come out fairly easy. Pines have a carrot type root and few feeders. If you look around after a major storm the trees that are uprooted are shallow rooted ones and those that break off above ground are deep rooted from my observations.

[Jimmy Mack]

~ Tap root (hickory, walnut, butternut, white oak, hornbeam)

~ Heart root (red oak, honey locust, basswood, sycamore, pines)

~ Flat root (birch, fir, spruce, sugar maple, cottonwood, silver maple, hackberry)

here's a good link:

http://www.extension.iastate.edu/Pages/tree/roots.html

bear in mind root shape mass is greatly influenced by site location, soil structure and watering program. Typically the root mass for real trees are not as symmetrical as the text book pictures and will instead grow in a pattern adapted to that specific site and conditions

[Jan Doling]

Hurricane Charley uprooted the fast growing laurel oaks in far greater numbers than the slow growing live oaks. Palm trees did better than denser foliaged trees. Crepe mytle did well, too. Frances is heading our way this coming weekend...we may have a bald state by the week after that!

[Paul Wheaton]

I now have about five hours in googling ... I've learned a lot. But not much more than what was gleaned from Jimmy Mack's post.

Anybody know what the root structure on western larch looks like?

[uncle Will in In.]

By golly you got a problem there Paul. I'm inclined to go for cheap solutions whether they are right or wrong. I would pull the shaft out and grind off all the places where it completely rubbed the grease off pulling it out. If that helped a little, I keep grinding until it helped a lot.
Or go to a salvage type place and trade shafts with them.

[uncle Will in In.]

PAUL - Don't ask me how but I didn't answer the right post up there. You can go ahead and read it if you want.

[Jimmy Mack]

in case you haven't run accross this information already Paul....

Rooting Habit- Larch develops a deep and extensive root system, but little information is available about its root growth. Root lengths on first-year natural seedlings usually reach 5 cm (2 in). Under good nursery conditions, well-developed fibrous roots 20 cm (8 in) or longer develop on 1-0 growing stock. Observations in soils under young larch stands indicate extensive fibrous rooting in the top 50 cm (20 in), substantially less in the 50-100 cm (20-40 in) depths, and practically none at greater depths. Soil water depletion studies verify these observations in young larch stands (29). Heavy rooting at depths greater than the above has been observed along roadcuts through old-growth stands. Evaluations of roots of windfallen overmature larch show that nearly all of them were infected with root rots (35). Apparently, these rots play an important role in wind stability of overmature trees, but their importance in young trees is not known.


from: http://www.na.fs.fed.us/spfo/pubs/si...cidentalis.htm


also of interest...

HABITAT TYPES AND PLANT COMMUNITIES:
Except when it is young, western larch is rarely found in pure stands. Its most common tree associate is Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii), and on low-elevation dry sites it is found with ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa). Common associates in warm, moist forests include grand fir (Abies grandis), western hemlock (Tsuga heterophylla), western redcedar (Thuja plicata), and western white pine (P. monticola). In cool, moist, subalpine forest types Engelmann spruce (Picea engelmannii), subalpine fir (A. lasiocarpa), lodgepole pine (Pinus contorta), and mountain hemlock (Tsuga mertensiana) are more common.
Hardwoods that occur with western larch include paper birch (Betula papyrifera), black cottonwood (Populus balsamifera ssp. trichocarpa), and quaking aspen (P. tremuloides) [72,115,116,126,132].

Major understory associates include common beargrass (Xerophyllum tenax), huckleberry (Vaccinium spp.), thimbleberry (Rubus parviflorus), menziesia (Menziesia ferruginea), ninebark (Physocarpus malvaceus), serviceberry (Amelanchier spp.), Oregon boxwood (Paxistima myrsinites), and bearberry (Arctostaphylos uva-ursi).

Western larch is not considered a climax species, but it is a long-lived early successional species. Refer to the 'Successional Status' section of this species summary for more details [34,53,88,116,156]. Classifications describing plant communities in which western larch is an important seral species include the following:

Idaho: [33,34,64,144]
Montana: [65,66,106]
Oregon: [51,63]
Washington: [34,51,63]

form: http://www.fs.fed.us/database/feis/p...arocc/all.html

[Paul Wheaton]

Wow! Excellent info again Jimmy Mack! Thanks!

[heelpin]

Check out the Bur Oak if you live in the Eastern half of US, slow growing but durable.
http://forestry.about.com/library/weekly/aa071601a.htm

[Paul Wheaton]

Does the bur oak have edible acorns?

I thought the elm was out because it is so susceptable to disease. Not so?