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[Gene GeRue <genegerue AT ruralize.com>]

Yesterday, Magnolia and I took down a hickory tree. It was a tougher 
push than expected so after it was down I looked it over and was 
reminded of tap roots, this one being about six inches in diameter.

The only thing more fun than watching the tree finally go down was 
watching Don leap like a gazelle to get out of the way.

Anyway, the view of that tap root yesterday and the view out my 
computer window reminds me of something that may or may not be 
useful. In the front yard are two heartnut trees, gifts from friends 
about sixteen years ago. When I planted them I experimented with the 
holes, using my wagon-axle-digging-bar to make deep, skinny holes 
that I filled with soft soil, the idea being to give the tap roots 
opportunity to go down deep fast.

Today, the two heartnut trees are about twenty and twenty-five feet 
tall. The taller one is also much fuller, a beautiful specimen. The 
smaller tree is not nearly as pretty. I tell Chris the bigger one is 
male and, well, you know how that goes. Trunk diameters are equal. I 
of course wonder if those tap root opportunities were equal or if the 
smaller tree sent its water-seeking source out to the side a bit. Or 
maybe its momma was just puny.