A Grammatical Dictionary of Botanical Latin

ablaqueans,-antis (part.B): > L. ablaqueo,-avi,-atum (part.A): to turn up the earth round a tree, in order to form a trench for water [laqueus, a hollow] (Lewis & Short);

- ablaqueare arbores est terra circa truncum seu caudicem in ambitu effosa radices superiores denudare & aeri exponere, ut magis fructificent; vel, Palladii verbis, circa codicem dolabra diligenter terram aperire, & purgatis omnibus velut lacus efficere, ut Solis teporibus & imbribus provocentur (Ray), to ablaqueate trees the soil is dug out in a circle [i.e. circumference] around the trunk or caudex [i.e.stem or body of a tree], to uncover the upper roots and to subject [i.e. expose] them to the air, so they might be more fruitful; or, in the words of Palladius, to thoroughly open the soil with a pick-axe around the tree stalk, and when everything is cleared out, to create as if a basin [i.e. a trench], so as to be stimulated by the gentle warmth of the sun and the rains.