TL;DR
A root ball is the mass of roots and soil that travels with a tree or shrub when it is dug for transplanting or sold balled-and-burlapped, sized by industry standard at roughly 10 to 12 inches of diameter per inch of trunk caliper. Keeping it intact and moist is what keeps the plant alive through the move, yet even a properly dug one contains only a fraction of the original root system.
What it means
A root ball is the mass of roots and soil that travels with a tree or shrub when it is dug for transplanting or sold balled-and-burlapped, sized by industry standard at roughly 10 to 12 inches of diameter per inch of trunk caliper. Keeping it intact and moist is what keeps the plant alive through the move, yet even a properly dug one contains only a fraction of the original root system. At planting, wire baskets and burlap should be cut back from the top, and the ball must rest on firm soil so it cannot settle deep.
Where it sits in the glossary
Root ball is part of the Trade jargon group inside the ProFix Directory glossary. Browse every term in this category from the glossary index.
Why Ohio homeowners should know it
This is a term Ohio homeowners encounter when reading contractor quotes, hiring paperwork, or inspection reports. Understanding it well enough to ask one good follow-up question is usually all the protection a homeowner needs.
ProFix Directory keeps definitions short on the index page and saves the longer context — Ohio-specific rules, where the term comes from, and which ProFix tools touch it — for these per-term pages so the term is easy to cite and easy to share.
ProFix tools that touch this term
See also
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