# Planting a tree in Korea

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/planting-a-tree-in-korea/813210>\
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion\
**Created:** [April 27, 2018, 9:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/planting-a-tree-in-korea/813210 "2018-04-27T09:39:28Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Gymnopithys](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/fbc32d/32.png) [@Gymnopithys](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gymnopithys)\
**Post date:** [April 27, 2018, 9:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/planting-a-tree-in-korea/813210/1 "2018-04-27T09:39:28Z")

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Hi,

It doesn’t take a forest engineer to notice that the tree planted in Korea for the summit meeting was just a put on:

1. Transplanting a conifer of that size would have little chance to take roots.

2. Such a large tree planted on a mound would be uprooted at the first burst of wind (unless Kim’s watering can does miracles).

I believe the the tree was there before and that some earth was nicely put around the trunk.

Anyway, the ceremony was interesting to watch.

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**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\
**Post date:** [April 27, 2018, 1:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/planting-a-tree-in-korea/813210/2 "2018-04-27T13:05:11Z")

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That’s not [an especially large tree](https://www.afp.com/sites/default/files/nfs/diff-intra/english/shared/int/6ef4eb2e8ae91d9b11ff09dccb498981c0c2c4ed.jpg) and it has a very sizable root ball. Provided it’s taken care of (and isn’t a species that transplants very poorly; I don’t know what flavor of pine it is), it should be fine.

At my job, we’ve transplanted trees with root balls up to ~18,000 lbs. It’s not blowing over. If the wind does seem to be moving it, you can stake it.

Edit: That pine looks to be maybe 12-14’ high? I have multiple jobs on my desk calling for conifers in excess of 20-24’ height. Those are more “Christmas tree” looking plants than the bushier, rounder one they planted at the summit.