Abstract

The object of the study was to try to find out if the tree size has any influence on the establishment result. The object was also to try to give an answer to how the establishment of a number of tree-species, planted at Bo01 (a housing area) in Malmö, has worked out and discus if the chosen tree size might have influenced these results. The study is based on a literature study and a case study. It became obvious during the process that it was not possible to give any precise answers, or be able to discus the topic of the study in a proper way with the information provided from the case study, since it in most cases had not been planted more than one size of each species in the area. The significance of the literature study became larger and the main part of this study lies within the literature study. The literature study is divided in three chapters: Establishment, tree size and the production chain. In the first chapter the various definitions of when a tree can be defined as established are mentioned and discussed as well as how a certain species can be defined as either easy or difficult to transplant. This first part also involves stress and how it affects the plants and how transplanting can create stress, with a special attention on water stress. In the second chapter there is a survey over research done this far on the impact of the tree size on establishment, and parts concerning balance between the root and the crown, and root growth. In the third chapter, the tree production chain is dealt with, from the nursery to the establishment management, with a special focus on root pruning. The purpose of this part is mainly to show how many factors that have to be right for the establishment to be successful. In the case study, five species were chosen; Aesculus hippocastanum ‘Baumannii’, Pinus nigra var. austriaca, Quercus palustris, Sorbus intermedia and Tilia cordata ‘Erecta’. P. nigra var. austriaca was planted in several sizes and S. intermedia was planted in two sizes, both quite large. Measuring of shoot growth was chosen as method and measurements of stem diameter and vitality estimates were used to give a wider picture of the current trees. In this study, the establishment-definition given by Rune Bengtsson was chosen. According to this, a tree can be defined as established when it has regained, for the species or the cultivar, a normal growth, with the habitat taken in consideration. Combining this definition with shoot measurements gave the result that the establishment had been more or less successful for the different species in the study. It was not possible, in this case study, to give any conclusions concerning the potential impact of the tree size. The study showed that it is possible to plant a large tree, if the conditions are good. This opposes a great part of the existing literature, which claims that it could take as much as 13 years to establish a tree with a stem diameter of 25 cm. It is also suggested that the water access is the most crucial factor for establishment, and that with the production methods and quality criteria of today, it is possible to avoid a too severe disturbance of the root/shoot balance. This means that the water stress never has to be more than moderate for a replanted tree and that the tree development does not have to be jeopardised, even when a large size tree is planted

Keywords

Stadsträd; etablering; trädstorlek; stress; rot/kronabalans; skottillväxtmätningar; trädproduktion

Published in

Rapport (Sveriges lantbruksuniversitet, Institutionen för landskaps- och trädgårdsteknik)
2006, number: 2006:7
Publisher: Institutionen för Landskaps- och trädgårdsteknik

SLU Authors

• Levinsson, Anna

  • Department of Landscape Management and Horticultural Technology, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
    

UKÄ Subject classification

Landscape Architecture


Permanent link to this page (URI)

https://res.slu.se/id/publ/9261