The arboriculture company Bartlett’s Tree Experts was in Bush’s Pasture Park on Tuesday, May 10th, on several projects to help extend the life park’s trees. One of those projects was reinvigorating the root system around an historic flowering cherry tree.
Root invigoration is a well-studied treatment that uses an air spade to blow soil away from the tree without damaging the roots. The existing soil is amended with biochar and, if needed, other nutrients, and then returned to cover the roots. This process reduces compaction that can limit waster uptake and root growth. Biochar, a relatively new amendment, holds and slowly releases water and nutrients back into the soil. The effects of root invigoration are usually seen in one to two years.