I had two trees delivered from two different nurseries 2 years ago. The nursery men delivering the trees seemed to be experienced, one was the owner's son, and directed me to push down the metal web, I cut part of the burlap. The trees did not lean and look great now. Though I did not like that they insisted to have the rootballs 1-2 inches high in sandy soil.
Bernd

If they blew over what they needed was to be securely staked.

The Bottom Line
- Balled and burlapped plant materials usually contain soil significantly different than that of the
transplant site.
- Differences in soil texture will impede both water movement and root establishment.
- Root defects can only be found and corrected if root ball soil is removed.
- Proper root preparation combined with best practices for installation will greatly improve tree
establishment and survival in any landscape

Here is a link that might be useful: The Myth of Collapsing Root Balls

Spring of '08 I planted a 4-5 foot Pinus Koraiensis that was burlapped. When I removed the burlap I could see a second inner layer of burlap about two years old. I removed that as well. By the time I was done, there was no root ball and was closer to bare-rooted. The tree has never skipped a betat. The "Do not Disturb" sign that nurseries put on rootballs is over-rated and overused, IMO.

As a side note, as one who composts, I threw the two year old burlap into my well constructed, well cooking compost bin. The burlap has been annually forwarded into each new compost bin and was finally starting to show signs of break down this Spring.

tj

"If they blew over what they needed was to be securely staked. " I didn't think they needed to be staked because of the massive rootballs-what happened was we got so much rain that some of the areas were so saturated and then came some very gusty winds and the areas around the holes kinda just collapsed from all the water and some of trees were then easily pushed over. I believe if we had the wind with no rain then they should have been fine. But its all hindsight now I guess. I was more concerned with the ones that kinda separated from their rootballs.
thetman

Thetman, don't beat yourself up over this. You did the right thing, and as for staking, the truth is that we never really know if staking will be needed or not, until after the fact. Tree establishment can be faster without staking, but this might be a case of splitting hairs.

You've secured the trees, and they should be okay. Some tree loss at planting happens to the best of us, and while we may speculate as to why, the truth is that, in most cases, we just don't know.

Going forward, just do the proper things, with water mgt. being the biggest issue. That doesn't mean that you will be doing much watering necessarily. It will all depend on what the weather brings. And keep in mind, moist is moist. If rainfall has been sufficient, there is no advantage to adding still more water. But I think you know this. Do watch that the balls themselves are being wet adequately, whether by weather or by you.

+oM

thanks for the encouragement. yes they all seem to be fine and secure now- I will remove the staking in the spring. not all needed to be staked- some didn't even flinch. Infact I'll be putting a few more in the ground soon (then I am definitely done for the season). Again I was advised to leave the cage intact, but I know I won't. I know there are two camps to this debate- but I just don't like the idea of leaving them on. I will be more careful this time to prevent any breakage though.
thetman

Sounds good, bro, though I do hope you're not in for the winds we're having here today! 60 mph gusts!

+oM

60mph! don't even joke about that-I could definitely do without that. good luck with that-high winds always scare me-with new trees or old. hope you come out of it ok.
thetman

I'd have been more concerned for my and my family's safety if not for having removed the giant silver maple in my backyard over the course of last winter. A branch failure on that thing could have smashed my house, although we did live with the big guy for almost thirty years.

Anyway, this wind event confirms once again for me that most large-growing conifers in my region are remarkably able to handle high winds. We picked up storm damage....chunks of street trees like maples, etc, all day today, but even covering as much ground as I did, saw no significant damage to any of the big Norway spruce or other large conifers in town.

Will be heading up to my land tomorrow to do some work, and will survey the woods for damage.

+oM