I wouldn't hesitate to remove the soil. I don't have to look back at a single tree I planted here and wonder what might/could have root problems... because I washed the soil off everything and went in and fixed everything. All the great advice given here regarding trees planted too deeply and except myself and horster - for the hundreds of posts & everyone else is willing to skip the obvious. B&B is troublesome and we all know it. If it weren't for Adam's willingness to dig into the rootball to find signs of roots ~6" below and if he'd of just left it, that tree would have died. John, if a root-system is really screwed up and say has a long taproot with minimal fine roots, I'll pot it into soil-less mix and put it in mostly to full shade until it grows fine roots and in a larger container than normal. It may take three years until I'm happy/ready to plant it to the landscape. If I think after I've washed all the soil off and pruned the roots that it is good enough to be planted to the landscape, then yes I do stake it but I don't stake any tree so it can not sway in the wind. I usually put two metal fence stakes on opposite sides and wrap a towel around the trunk of the tree and use green, plastic, horticultural tape to tie the tree off. And I dig an immense hole and plant above the soil line and because of all the backfill, the tree will stay in place due to the sheer magnitude of the weight of the soil. That's all I have to say/comment upon. Dax

Turning your yard into a cave, until they blight off, break up or blow over. If these aren't dwarf lilacs they will grow much taller than they are now. However, tall shrubs or trees right next to a wood fence will probably become a headache when the fence needs some work. I suppose the shade and dampness they foster might even cause some work on the fence to be needed. Make a bed where tree(s) can be planted well out from the fence instead. If this doesn't seem like it would work maybe talk to a garden designer about organizing your spaces to meet your needs. You might even have to use an architectural solution like a gazebo, trellis or arbor if trees don't seem like they will fit.

It's a fantastic idea. From what I'm reading, you want to use trees that are already growing on your property and transplant them along your 5 acre plot of land. When they get old enough, you want to cut off their limbs and use them as fence posts. The absence of limbs would not make them unstable, actually the reverse would be true. Now that they are cut down to size and removed of leaf bearing limbs the wind is not a concern. At its core, you are growing fence posts that dig themselves into the ground. No one worries about a fence post being blown over by the wind. As you've trimmed off the top and any limbs, the trees will probably quickly die which is exactly what you want. A firmly rooted post for a fence. Therefore, there isn't a problem with the tree growing over the fence wire (at least once the tree dies). Instead of buying trees at $8.99 a tree for every 8 feet (easily over $600 for 5 acres), why not just transplant the young trees that are already growing on your land for free. If you want an electric fence, go for it. It would be no different from a fence made from posts except that the trees would be far studier than any post could ever be. If anything, you might consider woods that are non-toxic to your animals (if any) and resistant to rot.

Connie, regarding the plants I rescued from another garden, they are still way back there next to the corn field. I only took ones I really cared about and that would thrive in the main part of my shady yard. That area was beyond the part we mowed and was only planted to beautify the area that had formerly been taken over by thistle and burdock and trash. Those are now considered abandoned by dev. co. and it is my hope that they will continue to thrive. I don't think the development company will bulldoze it as there are many young trees and this is at the very, very back end of a very, very large lot. They would be smart to leave it for any future new owner. That is my hope anyway. Lois, next spring, I will "trespass" and attempt to recover many of my plants within the hosta bed, the most important to me being "Spilt Milk". I did more investigation yesterday and almost all of them are there, waiting for spring. I hid them with leaves and a few wood chips to weigh the leaves down. Big Mama is missing but maybe the crown is down there some where and she'll show up in April/May. Bunnycat, we did find out on Monday night that the land was lost and the lawsuit was dead...so we did have one day's notice. However, I felt it was so late in the season (mid November?) that they'd have a better chance surviving if I waited until spring. We'll be able to test the theory/choice in the spring when we see if the Guacamole they threw aside (the one I grabbed while they were gone to lunch & planted next to the house) survives. If it doesn't, I still have 3 Guacs left. Thank you all for your thoughts and condolences. Thanks again to Ken, Papou, & others who pounded into me the necessity of garden maps. They will be invaluable. Char