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Took the honey locust on Highland Ave from half dead to full canopy in 14 months
When I first looked at this honey locust in June last year it had maybe 30 percent canopy left, bark was splitting on the south side, and the whole root flare was buried under 6 inches of fill dirt from a patio job the homeowner had done in 2019. I told her straight up it might be a removal. First thing I did was air spade the flare out over two days, found girdling roots the size of my wrist wrapping the trunk, and cut them back with a root saw and pruners. Then I did a soil test, pH came back at 7.8 with almost no organic matter, so I did a deep root fertilization in October and punched holes with a water lance every 18 inches out to the drip line. We also thinned the deadwood and did a light structural prune so the tree wasn't trying to feed wood that was already gone. Saw her this morning walking her dog and she flagged me down to look at it, canopy is fully closed in now, new growth all over the scaffold limbs, and the bark has callused over on that split. Never thought I'd see a turnaround like that on a street tree with that much abuse. Curious if anyone else has pulled off a save on a tree with girdling roots that bad, and how long it took before you stopped worrying about it.
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