How do I best care for my Kentucky Coffee tree with root damage?

Question

Not knowing that the tree had such shallow roots, I dug a trench around the tree about 4" deep to plant hostas. The outside diameter of the trench has a 3' radius with the tree at the center. The tree has a 3" trunk and is about 15' tall. When I dug the trench, I cut six 3/4" roots that had a length of more than 3'. What can I do to help this tree recover?

Answer 1

The best thing for you to do right now is to wait and see. The tree (which sounds like a young one) may bounce back. Do no more digging around the tree. In this case, it's not so much as what you can do as what you should just leave alone and let nature take its course.

When planting hostas under a tree (or group of trees) there is not need to cut any major tree roots. Plant around the tree roots. Hostas are plants that can be naturalized with something like ferns to look nice around a tree. They do not have to be planted in rows or in any formation that makes their place in a miniature landscape look artificial.

Good luck to you. We all learn from our mistakes.

Answer 2

Well, the damage has been done, it can't be undone. I question why you kept on digging when you realize you were in root-ville.

Did you get all the main laterals?........could be, but there's really no way of knowing. For certain we know the tree has lost : root support so is now more likely to blow over, water and food transport so the tree will have difficulty in supplying the canopy with water and food.

To do: Hopefully all the cuts where clean. Ragged cuts are more likely to be come infected (rot). Now stop digging around the base of the young tree. If the hostas survive, fine, if they croak, then pull them up, don't dig! Put down a mulch, this will keep the ground cooler and keep moisture in for whatever water and nutrient uptake the tree Can do. AVOID nitrogen fertilizers in the cut zone. Nitrogen will promote decay in the damage area. Watch the tree crown for signs of wilting and die back. Don't let the soil become soggy least rot set in, but also don't let the soil dry out.