In Plano, Texas. After some research, I decided to remove all of the burlap and twine. Root ball was in tact and I was able to get in in the hole without disturbing/cracking the root ball. Backfilled with native soil, put compost on top, along with mulch. Watered it well after it went into the ground (root ball was somewhat moist when I put it in the ground). Then we had a good rain for the next 36 hours or so.

Thanks for the quick reply.

Sounds like you hit the important points :-) Maybe just a bit of transplant shock, which it should outgrow rapidly. As long as you are sure drainage is good in this area - not good to have tree sitting around in heavily saturated soils.

Couple of things to consider for next tree planting.........site the tree in the planting hole with wrappings intact then remove them once tree is situated as you wish. This avoids any potential collapsing of the rootball moving it into the planting hole. You always want to remove any string, wire or twine but removing the burlap completely is not essential. Of course you want to remove it from around the trunk and the top of the rootball, but you want to proceed carefully removing from the sides of the rootball as fine feeder roots may be present and penetrating the burlap that can be harmful to the establishment of the tree to just rip away. That is usually not the case so early in the season but fairly common with B&B trees that have been sitting around for awhile. And burlap left under the rootball is no big deal.

And it is always important to thoroughly moisten the rootball before planting. Typically, B&B stock is grown in pretty heavy clay and if this is allowed to dry out much before planting, it is virtually impossible to rehydrate properly once in the ground and covered with soil, despite how often you water. Newly planted trees will often fail from lack of water because of this - essentially a soil interface - issue.

Great points. Thanks.

Now that it is in the ground, anything you recommend to break up some of that clay?

Agreed, and there's nothing jumping out about your account to suggest anything was done incorrectly. As one final consideration-and please, I do not mean to insult your intelligence here-36 hrs. of straight rain is quite a lot. Could the foliage which appears wilted be simply hanging down from the force of the rain and its weight? Just asking, as it sounds like all should be well with this tree.

+oM

No need to break up the clay (I assume you mean surrounding the rootball). As the roots extend, they will do that quite successfully all by themselves.

when you plant ANYTHING... you interrupt the root ability to pump water ... for a period of time ...


we say the the plant loses turgidity ... water pressure in the cells ...

in a perfect world.. the roots get pumping.. and they lift themselves up ...

all this.. is avoided by planting fully dormant trees ... so that there is no fresh growth to worry about.. and the roots have some time to settle in.. and start pumping ...

i didnt see that you mentioned size ... but if you could create some artificial shade for a week or so ... you could offset this to some extent ... but i am guessing... with a BB ... you went for some level of instant gratification.. and this is a big tree ...

it should recover.. with proper watering ... insert finger and find out.. and let it near dry in between good soakings ...

but do keep your receipt handy ...

review this link for watering and mulching ... and we could discuss anything else about it that you did differently

link

ken

Thanks to all. The leaves are definitely wilted, but it is very localized and the rest of the tree appears healthy, great root flare, etc. I'll keep an eye on it.

Update -- it hasn't gotten any worse, so hopefully it was just a little transplant shock. Thanks again to all.