ABOUT TWO YEARS AGO, I was down in Virginia Beach to photograph some trees with my husband Peter. The trees were bald cypresses growing right in the water! If you have ever seen such trees, they have a beautiful flare at their base, making the tree look as if it were a volcano. What magnificent presence these trees have.

Did you know that all trees when planted at the correct depth develop a flare at their base? Trees growing in the forest or in a park are great places to see how trees show their flare at the base. As young trees begin to grow, they put out roots to support their growing weight. We know that trees send roots outward from the trunk rather than straight down as we once thought.

When trees are planted too deep, they will not develop a flare, and have a 'stovepipe' appearance at the base. If not corrected early these trees will develop roots above the proper root depth and a flare will not develop. Such trees never grow well and slowly decline. It may take such trees up to 15 years or more to show signs of being planted too deep. Trees can also be over mulched. The same situation will develop and no flare will be present. Arborists have a tool called an air spade that blows the soil away from the tree to expose this root flare, then mulch can be properly applied.

If you have planted a tree in the past few years that still has a stake attached to its trunk, remove the stake now. Trees need the normal activity of the wind to encourage them to develop strong root flares soon after transplanting. Some exceptions to this rule may apply to trees that are planted in very windy sites or very large trees. Arborists will usually recommend that you remove the stakes between 6 months to a year after being planted to allow them to develop a healthy trunk flare.

Take a walk along the many trails of your neighborhood or estate and notice the trees with a trunk flair. Or perhaps you are lucky enough to have a majestic old oak or American elm in your community that has a flair of its own. Protect these trees wherever they are growing. To replace them would never be in our lifetimes or during the lives of our children.

Can you imagine a world without trees? Neither can I…

Bonnie Deahl is a certified arborist and Loudoun representative for The Care of Trees in Dulles, VA.
www.thecareoftrees.com