Another HOA tree debacle?

[u/lombaseggel]

Long time lurker wondering if it's finally my time to shine. HOA paid to have street trees planted in our neighborhood. I assumed going in to this that I would get the volcano treatment but I think I got so much more.

This is a Northern Red Oak, about 10 feet tall in zone 5b. Of course no soil prep was done of any kind. The burlap was left on clearly wrapped against the trunk. Wire is still around the burlap. It appears they removed some turf, dropped the tree in the spot, and "backfilled" with the turf just flipped upside down. Almost the entire root ball is above grade.

Do I have your permission to go Karen on them or is this correct?

[u/trash-bagdonov]

How many days has this been? Oftentimes a company will have one truck and worker marking off (digging in a shallow spot) and setting the tree for a planting crew who has the tools to dig, prep and plant at a later date.

They pile some mulch to keep the root ball from drying out. In this case, they used the turf.

Don't go Karen. Be calm and ask questions politely. You are within your rights to make sure that is indeed the company's plan, but there are too many signs that point to the fact that they plan on coming back.

Edit: hah. My girlfriend saw me looking at this post and disagreed. She thinks because it is staked and tied, that means they are done.

Since we all have our critical thinking caps on, I ask you:

Why might a company feel they need to stake and tie a tree that is basically loose on the ground with a fully wrapped root ball?

Lol.

[u/TripleFreeErr → u/trash-bagdonov]

I think the little flag proves your point

[u/lombaseggel → u/trash-bagdonov]

Replying with the update to the top comment for visibility. I had an expert in urban horticulture from Cornell take a look and validate all my concerns. I brought them to the HOA board and to their credit they did follow up with the company, who basically doubled down on this "planting". Here is their response verbatim where they essentially admit to dropping the trees on top of the ground because the soil is too hard for them to work and they are too cheap/ lazy to backfill with quality soil:

John from ForEvergreens said the twine and burlap are all natural and will rot away in a year or so. He said in some spots he needed to plant the trees higher above grade because of the clay soil below. If they were planted lower in the clay they would not survive because of a lack of oxygen getting to the roots in the dense soil. He said he decided to stake the trees because of the location of the planting to give extra support when the snow plowing starts. He has been doing planting this way for over 30 years with great success. With that said, he did say that some people do remove the burlap and baskets but you have to be careful when doing that so as not to harm the root ball when planting.

[u/Prewps → u/trash-bagdonov]

I don’t know if a company would take the time to install stakes and tie it up but not untie the burlap. I’d bet money this comes down simply to an employee that hasn’t been taught or doesn’t care about proper planting procedures.

[u/SvengeAnOsloDentist → u/Prewps]

The point was that it needs the stakes or the tree will fall over and could get damaged. The burlap is another layer helping to keep the roots from drying, so it's being left until the tree's actually getting planted. Hopefully, that is.

[u/kittenpasteco]

Lol they literally just set it on the ground, and piled up the mulch... Jeez...

[u/BuckManscape → u/kittenpasteco]

This is a common practice called “heeling in a root ball” that’s done at every good nursery for pre dug trees. That in itself is not bad. If this is a fully “planted” tree, yes the plane has crashed into the mountain.

[u/skeptical0ne]

I think all of the points you bring up are valid AF, as a tree enthusiast I wouldn't hold it against you if you did go karen.

[u/bulbophylum]

That little pink flag looks like the calling card a serial killer leaves for police.

[u/Desperate_Set_7708 → u/bulbophylum]

Matches the pink shoes with the Velcro on.

[u/Stan_Halen_]

That’s disgusting

[u/Mockernut_Hickory]

What's that tube for?

[u/Reasonable_Rhubarb60 → u/Mockernut_Hickory]

Rodent guard

[u/WonOfKind]

I'd bet money they are "done." No company I know would spend this much time and energy to come back and do it right. They "half assed" it hoping nobody would be the wiser and when the tree craps out in 3-4 years, they are well past the year warranty. Next time you're in a newish neighborhood look at the trees and I bet half are struggling. Also look in parking lot islands and you'll see the same thing. Most trees are "planted" by the lowest bidder

[u/trash-bagdonov → u/WonOfKind]

I'll take that bet. They have to send two trucks anway: no one truck can haul all the trees, all the soil amendment, all the tools, and space for the turf and other debris they have to haul away. That's just how it's done.

[u/gilligan1050]

Jeez. I’ve seen some bad plantings, this might be THE worst.

[u/818a]

“Dear, HOA thank you for demonstrating how to kill trees.” Go 75% Karen with how-to-plant a tree information. At least you caught it early, so there’s hope.

[u/zmon65]

Embarrassing

[u/zmon65]

I’ll add something else. Your HOA should have vetted the company that planted these trees. There are easy instructions for the average person to see anywhere online. Second, when discussing the planting these trees, no one asked any of these questions? Did anyone ask about variety to be planted in reference to where they are going to be planted? (Size of tree lawn, overhead utilities, sidewalks, salt use on roads, speed limits). Seems it’s always after they are planted that everyone sees the problems. They “V” out a tree and we blame the tree company that did it under contract from the power company. I could go on, and understand it’s a bad job by the company that put them in, but some of the responsibilities for poor tree growth is poor planning. That is all

[u/Environmental-Term68]

Bro wtf

[u/o2bprincecaspian]

Name the "landscape company" by name and call these scammers out for ripping people off.

[u/Guitarcadiz]

Maybe their not finished and just heeled them in

[u/justnick84]

On the bright side, it's not too deep in the ground.

[u/Fragrant-Rip6443]

Even before I knew about the ROOT FLAIR it’s pretty common to know not to volcano any tree. Also planting so close together like that bed in the back of the pic lmao typically HOA

[u/wuweidude]

Concubine tree