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On Jun 4, 2005, at 7:38 PM, JoanRRosenberg@aol.com wrote:

> It could also be the case that the arborist missed the graft and told her to expose the roots.  Ginda is smart enough to know a graft when she sees one.  If she didn't see the graft, and knows she planted the tree with the graft above the soil line. and knows she didn't mulch over the graft, then the arborist just exposed the tree's roots.  If she deliberately planted the tree deep, then she wanted the scion to root, and exposing roots is no good.

The graft is a couple if inches above the mulch line.  What he meant when he referred to "shoulders" is the protruding tops of roots that ordinarily develop at the base of a mature tree.  He pointed to this feature in a nearby oak as he spoke.  Maybe the usual word is "knees"?  At any rate, he wasn't commenting on the graft one way or another.

Thanks,
Ginda Fisher
eastern Mass, zone 6
where "winter moths" are becoming a problem.  But right now everything is growing and blooming and holding immature fruit, and the garden inspires hope.