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Sun, Jun 24, 12 at 4:24
| I have 3 afghan pines that were planted about 2001. They are now about 25 ft tall. Im going to be putting in a block wall type fence near them soon. The bottoms of the trees are about as wide as can be without hitting the block wall that is planned. I am concerned how the trees are going to grow once this block wall is in place.... when they hit the block wall will the growth that suffers from lack of sunlight eventually recover? Will they push out the block wall as they grow? Can they be trimmed until they get above the block wall and still grow to look good?
Additionally, what kind of roots do they have? Are they tap root or spreading or both? And lastly, how long do they usually live in dry desert conditions? Thank you for any answers!! I can post pictures tomorrow if requested. |
Follow-Up Postings:
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| How high is your planned block wall? How deep below ground level does its foundation go? Most pines start with strong tap roots, with lateral roots increasing in dominance as the tree ages. Afghans are pines that do best in hot dry conditions with around 20" of rainfall. I have seen examples of them around 20-30 years old when planted in these types of areas. In wetter climates they can quickly succumb to miscellaneous pests and diseases. |
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- Posted by stompoutbermuda Z8DesertSunsetZ11 (My Page) on Sun, Jul 1, 12 at 10:55
| My block wall will be about 6' high and the foundation is only one foot deep. This is the row of 3 pines looking north. The block wall will be directly to the West. I need to leave room for a good sized driveway between the pines and the fence. Please pardon the mess, I am putting in water lines and solar weeding in these pictures.
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| My biggest concern is that you might have to cut tree roots at one foot depth that close to the trees. If you have already trenched and hit no roots, proceed on ahead with your wall. Trim back any branches that are in your way. I would trim them back to the trunk. I would leave the branches on the other side of the tree away from the wall for now and only trim them up later if needed. Generally limit foliage reduction to about 10% per year and never more than 25% in one year for tree health. Might want to replace the sprinkler lines if they are in active service. Typically put an over size steel nipple same length as wall thickness in the concrete and run your sprinkler pipe thru that to the other side. Good luck. |
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