One more thing the root ball is about 2 feet in depth. So the burr oak is root ball is about 16-18 inches in the soil and 6-8 inches above ground.

I am not sure why you are feeling considerate of the landscapers - if they did a bad job, they should be told about it - it MAY be that the crew who was at your house took a few short cuts, which management didn't know about. Even if you may get them in some degree of trouble, it's their job to do a proper planting job, for which you are paying the landscaping company money! At the least, you should get an explanation WHY the root ball is sitting high. And mentioning it NOW gives you a trail if by chance the tree should die and need replacing in the next year - they did give a guarantee, didn't they?

Check to see where the root flare is - the area where the trunk and the roots separate. The trunk usually widens out a bit at that point. You might or might not have to dig down a little in the root ball to find it. This should be at ground level. From there you can decide how much of the root mass is truly above ground level.

That said, it's not too awful a problem. I WOULD see what the company says, and maybe put them on notice that this is NOT aceptable planting practice, but this, while a bit extreme, is a recommended practice for poorly draining soil - just take mulch or top soil - NOT potting soil - and make a ring around the root ball, covering up the edges. You can mulch over that, and over the root ball, out to a total width of at least 4', to a depth of 4", but don't put any mulch in the 3-4" next to the trunk, except for a scattering to blend it in. As things settle, you may need to add more, so the edges of the root ball are well covered. You will also have to be a little more careful about watering, as the root ball can dry out more than if it were completely in the ground.

Good luck in dealing with the landscapers, and with the rest of the plantings.

To repeat what dibbit said, the root flare is what should be at or just slightly above ground level. It may be that the crew planted these trees correctly. The soil level on a B&B tree is unreliable as a guide for planting depth because soil is often heaped up around the base of the trees when cultivating operations are performed in the nursery. It is essential to locate this root flare in order to place tree at proper depth.

A much more common problem with the installation of trees is their being planted too deep. See it all the time.

+oM

The first thing you could do is ask them about why they did this. I have a few thoughts, however. If the soil below is very heavy clay, they may have wanted to avoid putting the tree down into a kind of basin that would collect water and drown the roots.

But a couple of times I have bought trees that had planting instructions that said to have the top of the root ball something like 25% above ground level. I think I ignored these instructions because I have always planted trees at what I thought was the same depth at which they grew. There was no explanation for why it was recommended to plant the tree so high, but there may have been a good one. I assume the person writing the instructions had some idea in mind. I would like to hear from others here about whether they have seen the kind of instructions I am talking about and if they make sense.

But, in some cases the root ball of a tree is which is dug mechanically can have extra soil on the upper part of the root ball that is above the original soil level the tree grew in. So you may want to check to see just where he root flare is. Maybe there is some soil above the root flare and you tree is at the proper depth regardless. If there is any soil above the root flare, remove it.

--Spruce

In heavy clay soils where drainage can be an issue it is always preferable to plant high. In fact, it is a recommended horticutural practice. Rather than chastising the landscapers, they should be applauded for not digging a deeper, bathtub-like hole that could very easily retain excess moisture and promote root rots. Simply have them mulch to the top of the root ball. This is the equivalent of a mini berm and is a highly regarded practice by those in the know when clay soils present problems.

FWIW, if given a choice, it always preferable to plant with the root ball slightly higher than ground level than it is at ground level or, heaven forbid, below. This will take into account any settling and allow for a sufficient layer of mulch.

Even if what they did was the good practice as gardengal says surely they should have explained what they did and why they did it rather than just leaving the site,job done! They should also have the plan of adding mulch in mind and inform you of any further work needed. Its negligence.

I will speak with the Landscapers today. I will ask for an explaination for why it was planted so high. From the previous posters it seems I may be over reacting to the tree planted so high. Thanks for helping me ally my fears of the tree dying. It is a large investment that I do not want it to die.

Here are some pictures of the tree. Sorry it is side ways

{{gwi:443224}}

Here is a close of the mound they built with top of root ball 6-8 inches above ground
{{gwi:443225}}

Here is an empty hole that shows clay
{{gwi:443226}}

Here is a unplanted root ball of 24 inches in depth

{{gwi:443227}}

I will let you know what the landscaper responded with. If he intends to build a mound, how far should I have this mound extend out from the trunk of the tree? thanks for everyone's comments.

If my eyes are seeing this correctly, it looks like the ropes and burlap have been left up around the trunk of the tree. This is a REAL no-no! Also,there should be no soil piled on top of the root ball at all, and there appears to be quite a bit.

Doesn't leaving the basket and burlap on make it easier to remove when they die? :-)
(That was a joke)

Yeah there's too much soil piled up but the planting depth itself looks good to me. You can clear that away. Remove the basket and burlap and the tags. Save the tags in your files for future reference or for future homeowners.

Yeah, it looks like they just piled the extra soil that was removed from the planting hole on top of the root ball. Remove the extra soil from around the root collar (the point where the roots first come off of the trunk.) As the others have stated, remove the wire basket and burlap as best you can from the top of the root ball. It's especially important to cut off any burlap that will potentially be above soil level as this will wick water away from the root ball.

Oh dear, and these people are professionals??

Treeguy-

That has to be the best post I've ever seen! :)

Can I just ask why the mulch must be kept away from the trunk?

Treeguy, your drawings say in very few words what could take several paragraph to say. Thank you for such clear explication!! Fatlard, I hope you are clear on what is needed.

Please do let us know what the landscape co. has to say - as Greenlarry said, even if the owner or some of their crew are professionals, it seems the crew who worked on your job were lacking in a few areas.... At the least, they should have spoken to you about what they did, whether or not they SHOULD have done it.

Greenlary, do a google search on: "Mulch volcanoes"

As beneficial as mulch is, too much can be harmful. Unfortunately, many landscapes are falling victim to a plague of overmulching. A new term, "mulch volcanoes," has emerged to describe mulch that has been piled up around the base of trees. Tree trunks are covered with bark that is designed to protect the trunk. It works best in the air and the light. If you pile mulch onto the bark, it will be exposed to dark and moisture. As the bark continues to be in the moisture, it will begin to rot which will start to stress stem tissues and affects the cells of the phloem, which is the layer of living tissue that transfers food up and down the plant. When this supply of food from the leaves is limited, the roots die back, which leads to less water being taken up, and the tree or shrub goes into general decline, leaf drop, and premature death. Also rotted bark cannot protect the tree from diseases, and in fact, diseases grow better in the dark moisture of the mulch. So now the tree is more likely to get diseases. Also mulch piled high against the trunks of young trees may create habitats for rodents that chew the bark and can girdle the trees. Some trees have shallow roots, especially maples. If Mulch Volcanoes are piled around the trunk, the roots will start to grow into it. These roots tend to stay in the mulch volcano and will then grow around the trunk in the mulch. As the root grows in diameter, it pushes against the trunk, which is also trying to grow bigger. These roots will eventually strangle the trunk. This type of root is called a "girdling root". The trunk will keep growing wider above and below the girdling root, and may actually encase the root.
The generally recommended mulching depth is 2 to 4 inches. Mulch wide not deep and keep it off the trunk about 4 to 6 inches away from the trunk.

Go here for info on it:
Link
Link
Link

Those illustrations are very beautiful indeed. One minor enhancement would be a drawing showing the top most root for young trees that may not have such a pronounced root flare.

I too am impressed with the customized diagrams. More importantly, the information is totally correct. For one more link , please see attached university leaflet on planting suggestions.

Here is a link that might be useful: Planting Landscape trees

Treeguy,thanks for that. I've never used proprietry mulch,just grass cuttings if I need to,but I wil bear this in mind. The only thing is that part of the bark is under soil anyway and it wil be dark and damp down there-I guess with heavy mulch things are more severe.

Wow treeguy123.. we really should sticky those drawings. They
were a great help.

My other two trees are in the ground. They are planted as you indicated in your diagrams.

So I guess the guy did do a good job. I check the rope and burlap. Looks like he cut it with a razor blade. When I tuck on it, it all came off.

Thanks for all your help guys. Lets see how they are in a couple of years

Here is the other side of the tree (Burr Oak). It looks a lot better after I push all the soil away. The second tree (Autumn Blaze Maple) in the picture next to the wheel barrel is the one they planted today. Looks good. They used a pick axe to dig today :)

{{gwi:443233}}

Greenlarry, ideally, all the bark of a tree should be in the air, above the soil, and all the roots should be in the soil. Granted, some roots do end up on top of the soil and not in it, but generally, they then grow bark. If part of the trunk is buried in the soil, the same conditions apply as with a "mulch volcano", with the additional problem that the roots are probably buried too deeply to get good air exchange, and the tree will struggle.

There is one more item to be aware of. Many landscape trees are grafted onto a rootstock. Where this graft was done, there is typically a swollen portion of the trunk which can be mistaken for the root flare. If this mistake is made, the root flare will still be buried too deep. We've had B&B trees come in that had as much as twelve inches of soil piled up on top of the root flare. Some times, roots have grown into this soil and need to be removed when planting, again so that correct depth is achieved.

Truth is, I'm really tired of B&B trees. All you're really buying is some dirt from the nursery. There aren't more roots retained when trees are handled this way. Usually fewer, actually. One advantage though, is the ability to plant B&B stock throughout the growing season rather than just when the tree is dormant, as is the case with bare root stock. In all other respects though, I believe bare root to be a better choice when available. And yes, tis true that most of our beloved conifers are only available in B&B or potted, with the exception of seedlings.

+oM

B&B-Ball and Burlap?

The industry standard is to leave the wire basket on. I wouldn't bother giving the landscapers crap for leaving it.

There is no "industry standard" for this practice. While the pros and cons of leaving the wire baskets intact continue to be debated and the American chapter of the International Society of Arboriculture continues to undertake field tests on various methods of planting as well as survey horticultural professionals for opinions both for and against, the consensus is that as much of the wrappings (twine, jute, nylon, wire or wire baskets, nails and burlap) that surround B&B products as possible be removed once the rootball has been placed in the planting hole. At the very least this material should be removed from around the trunk and top of the rootball and pulled down the sides.

The only "standard" practice with landscapers is to save time in planting by leaving everything intact.

That's right â om, that's why I like container grown but you probably don't see much by way of containers in the north. You may only have one transplant instead of two if its a small container.

FA tlard, It's hard to tell from the phot but
it looks like your autumn blaze was planted with
a smaller than recommended planting hole. (in
diameter) just judging by how much grass remains.

The oak looks like what tom was describing above
we only see the bulge from the root stock in the
pic, you need to clear away a lot of soil from
that one.

ALL nurseries and tree farms really should start using some sort of air root pruning container to keep root girdling in check. I've seen terrible root girdling. It seems to get worse the bigger the containers get. Whitcomb system would be a perfect example for air root pruning. It would eliminate B&B for good. With Whitcomb containers, you would have massive root system with no girdling problem and they start growing rapidly in all directions when planted. With B&B, you lose 80% of root system and takes longer to establish root system, I would think. That's why I avoid 10g or larger container. 5/7g regular container trees are a lot easier to fix....

quirkyquercus, it does look like the hole is too small. Would it be dangerous if I dug up the sides around the root ball and refill it?

Didn't you pay this firm to plant trees for you and isn't it reasonable to assume they would plant them in accordance with every garden center tree tag in the world? If you cant get them to fix it and stand by their work, I'd fix it.