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

Thanks Dax! Wish I could take credit for it ;-) Hortster, you bring up a good very good point about where precisely rooting will take place. It does make me wonder if my potted tree was planted too deep after it was rooted or if the soil level could have actually been maintained as it was up potted (if it was even potted up since the roots on the flare could easily be traced all the way to the edge of the 2 gallon imprint). Two other thoughts: 1) I can't help but wonder if some of those roots on the "non-rooted" side could possible girdle the tree down the road. I have also seen some very nice pics of a tree (a deciduous magnolia) self root grafting. I think since it is actual root tissue down there, it should fuse if they ever press on each other. If it were actual trunk, then a SGR issue might well arise. 2) This thing was just about as good as it gets being potted stock originating from a large wholesale grower (Greenleaf). There were some roots that had begun to circle on the outside of the container but once teased out, they went straight and stayed that way. As some have stated in the past, this was fresh spring stock primed and ready to be planted. If this plant hung around in this 2 gallon pot all summer into fall growing roots in a circle, it would not have been quite so easy to straighten out and plant correctly. This post was edited by j0nd03 on Mon, Apr 7, 14 at 10:25

WOW John, I am sorry about that. I enver would have expected that. At least I have a possible solution for you. Make about a 4' wide mound to plant the tree in. Make the old root flare about even with the original ground level, awhile the new developing root flare will be at the top of the mound. The ideal is that the mound will allow gas exchange to all roots while the tree sorts out it's root issues. By the time the caliper is 8-10" the mound won't be noticeable anymore. Our clay has necessitated that I plant almost everything we have in this manner, and ti has worked extremely well. Also now that I am expanding the mulch rings around them, the mound is not at all noticeable. Lastly, the nursery needs to know about this. I have talked to them before about root bound plants etc, and they have been the most forthcoming of anyone I've talked to about it. Arktrees

Well, we all make sure we plant here in California - especially S. California coastal areas - with the root flare showing some. And, I still have issues with Phytophthora in the root zone (no Gummiosis, but root rot). I know the Gulf states also can issues with this as well. Now, actual ROOTS exposed, not necessarily, but the very tops of the roots can eventually show if you've planted on a mound, and the soil naturally will wash away a bit. That's fine, that's normal. I can see this in the 120 acre orange orchard behind me that is about 40 years old. The trees were planted a bit higher on berms (very, very low berms), with the drip lines running along each side of the berm. All to promote excellent drainage, and we're on well draining soil here, not clay. You can see the root flares on all the trees, and some root "knuckles". Again, quite normal here in California. And for Texas, more info about why not to plant too deeply: http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/citrus/l2313.htm And, here is the exact recommendations of your Texas A&M Citrus Research Center in this article written by Dr. Sauls: http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/citrus/L2306.htm Here is the quote from this part of "Citruculture - Orchard Establishment" from the main "Texas Citrus & Sub-Tropical Fruits" Texas A&M website, John: "The top of the root system should be set at or slightly above soil level. Either the top inch or so of medium should be removed and replaced with soil at planting or a 1-inch layer of soil should be placed over the medium as the final step in planting. The soilless medium has very good drainage; i.e., it contains considerable air space. Without sealing off unrestricted air movement into and out of the root ball, the medium will quickly dry out, causing moisture stress of the tree even though surrounding soil may be quite moist. Trees should be watered as soon as possible following planting to settle the tree and soil and to provide the initial moisture needed for establishment." So, your Texas A&M experts also recommend this same planting method. You can run this document by your experts from Mexico and Cuba. See what they have to say. But this is just basic common sense for all tree planting, and most especially for tree species susceptible to Phytophthora. And citrus most certainly are in that category. Patty S.