It was a field grown tree before it was in a pot. The wire and string was a basket of sorts to hold the root ball together for nursery production purposes. Cut the wire. Cut the cord. Pull with some plyers to extract what you can.

It's Ok to rough up the roots a little. They don't mind being slapped around a bit before planting.

My only guess is that the tree was grown in the field, and it was cut out and lifted by the metal hooks embedded in the rootball. Does it look like potting mix or real soil in there?

Christopher beat me to it :)

"It's Ok to rough up the roots a little. They don't mind be slapped around a bit before planting."

It's not only Ok, it's probably necessary for the long term survival and establishment of the tree!

I would take an old serrated kitchen knife and cut 2 lines down either side of the root mass to try to catch any circling roots.

Cut as much of the metal with some tin snips as you can.

Very likely was originally wrapped in burlap that has since disintegrated. Nylon ties and metal spikes or staples are often used to secure the burlap firmly around the rootball. And if that's the case, that would indicate that tree has been potted up for at least 2 and possibly 3 or more seasons so all the more reason to make sure the rootball is roughed up enough to stimulate outward root growth.

And as david noted, remove all of the attachments you can manage to access.

Thanks for the advice I think I got it all out except a few parts of wire. I'm unsure who looks more roughed up at this point
..the tree or me.

So it's been planted but I have another question. Once it's all said and done the top of the dirt line from the pot is above our soil line. I would say by a couple inches. I know idely the trunk flare is above soil anyway to prevent girdling but I'm wondering if it's too high. I do a slow mound to bring soil line up to tree soil line if that makes sense? I would post a picture but it's not very notice in the picture but I can tell IRL.

I usually accidentally plant things too low and need to fix it so this is new to me. Please tell me it's okay as this tree is massive but I will try my best to fix it if you think it will be an issue

I've planted many of my yard trees on a slight mound ( after learning the hard way that too deep is bad ).

Then used wood mulch to cover the area to prevent hard rains from washing the soil away.

You will have to properly stake a tree like that with such a small root ball for the size of the tree, a season or two until the roots get established. Put the stakes in away from the tree and use some soft, stretchable material from the stakes to the tree so the tree can move and sway some, with the wind. That will allow the tree to become stronger instead of relying totally on the stakes.

Ideally you want the soil level of the previously potted plant even with the soil it is planted in. A couple inches, as in 2, for that size tree is not a big deal. BUT.....

Don't make a mound of dirt up to the root ball to hide things. Water runs off. Instead make a ring or bowl of dirt around the root ball. Add in a little more dirt to cover the root ball some more. Water stays in and goes to tree roots. In a year the bowl will be gone.

Water runs off?

What type of soil do you have?

Making a bowl or depression around a tree can be a bad thing, especially in clayey soil, the water will pool and stay too wet.

It also makes mowing around the tree a lot harder to do.

This Sugar maple is almost 3" above grade. Never had a problem with watering albeit my lawn is pretty level and soil is sandy.

Oh no Chris, I think it might be closer to 4 🤪. Ill go out tomorrow and measure to make sure. I was hoping there might be some settling but that might be wistful thinking.

Thanks for reminding me about the ring, I was going to attempt that tomorrow, I just wanted to address the root ball in case I needed to dig it back up. I attached some pictures, forgive the yard looking torn up but maybe it will give an idea of levelness.

if anyone has any suggestions on underplanting those are welcome as this area has been neglected (waiting for the stump to be ground) and, as you can see, in the front of our house. it's Dogwood Summer Gold, so quite a bold tree.

Thanks Bill for the stake suggestion, that is a good idea. I will need to look into that. thanks also for your insight on having a rootball above soil line, my soil is very clay and I live in Seattle so it is very wet right here. I usually plant above the soil line plants that like to dry off between watering and it has been really helpfull.

But I think what Chris meant was the mound is helpful for the first year of a trees life because it allows any water to trickle down to the roots while it is getting established as a tree has high water needs the first year. and then after the first year, the mound would go away and I'd let nature do its job (with supplements waters during dry summers).

Ideally, one should always lean towards planting high or with the rootball slightly above grade. It has been demonstrated that establishment tends to be faster and drainage improved. At the very minimum, the root flare must be at grade or slightly above and that is seldom the case with most field grown (and even containerized) trees.

It never hurts to plant high....but it will be the kiss of death to plant too deeply.

I'd be more concerned about water running towards the house. But with rain gutters that should only happen during a driving rain angled toward the house.

The tree is too close to the house considering it will want to grow in all directions.

Other than that it looks pretty good to me. You're better having the planting on a rise considering it's going to part of a 'bed' with lower level plantings around it. imo. :-)

I totally get where you are coming from with it being too close to the house and I knew someone (or several would say that) when I shared pictures. I did spend a fair amount of time researching and talking to the tree specialist at the nursery (I trust this nursery) I frequent and she told be this depth would be okay based on the tree, she also said this tree is pretty much at it's max growth point. it also looks closer in the picture than in person. There was a service berry tree there previously about a foot closer to the house and there weren't any issues but I'm always open to other people's opinions. The closeness was a concern of mine.

In the end, it all depends on what you want to do. 8^)

Oh, just FWIW: By Summer, and not much maintenance :-) The mound on that Sugar Maple became less obvious over time (which was okay with me).

Looks great, Bill. I can't even tell there is a mound. The tree definitely looks happy.

Yes the bowl created by a ring of dirt around the edge of the potted root ball is for watering purposes while establishing a new tree or large shrub. In a year it will have eroded and settled away. The idea being to keep the water where it needs to be and not running downhill with gravity from the top of a mound.

You people will just have to forgive me. I started my gardening life in Florida sand and have never gardened in clay. It's a big world out there with all kinds of dirt.

No need to apologize Chris! I find that method super helpful and I also use it for plants even in our rainy, clay soil :)

haha, Chris, I get it. :-)

There's also differences in locations, where a tree in the middle of the yard is not the same as one as part of a planting, by the house with understory around it.

Hutch,

That SM settled down below grade when first planted. I had to raise it up and it ended up a little higher than I first intended. But like GG stated, a little to high is better than too low. An above grade root flare is a happy root flare which makes for a happy tree (Acer saccharum again).

I live in a near rain forest now and I still use the bowl because it is a major aid to good watering practice with my clients. They can't be trusted.

Your dogwood is still quite juvenile in appearance and will no doubt grow much larger than it is now. Also trees don't have "maximum growth points" in the sense you are using it here - even the tallest redwoods are still putting out new stem growth at the tip.

Horticultural techniques for successful plant establishment

Microsoft Word - Planting fact sheet.doc (wsu.edu)

you're right Embothrium, I misspoke. Thinking back she said it was more like a "teenager" tree and it would most likely not grow much more in height but would bulk up but would take a few years before it got acclimated from transplanting before putting on new growth.

I don't know the cultivar but so far it looks like the species is Cornus kousa. A few measured non dwarf versions of this tree in older Seattle plantings have been determined to have crown spreads or heights on the order of 40'-50'. And the long whippy branches the grower got yours to make shows that it is not a dwarf growing selection. With it already looking kind of jammed up against the house.

Next I looked your tree up on the web.

A commercial depiction:

Cornus kousa ‘Summer Gold’ - Iseli Nursery

The patent application description:

Plant habit.--Upright. Plant dimensions (1 year).--1 m-1.3 m in height and 60 cm in width. Plant dimensions (3 years).--2.2 m-2.5 m in height and 1 m in width....

Growth rate.--Vigorous, faster than other cultivars in the species

United States Patent: PP22765 (uspto.gov)

Replacement of cut roots of cold climate adapted woody plants starts the first spring after planting, when the overwintering stem buds at branch tips open. Elongation of these roots sufficient to replace much of the original root volume occurs the first fall after planting, when overwintering buds at stem tips have matured. With this annual autumn increase in root length typically amounting to 60% of the yearly total. So that even after this fall rooting phenomenon has happened for only the first time after planting a given specimen may often resume subnormal or even normal rates of top growth as soon as the second spring after planting.

I hate to agree with others (because I can imagine how much work you have put into planting this tree) but it's too close to the house. Soon the branches will be scraping your siding, windows and gutters, and you'll end up having to trim those parts away and the tree will look misshapen. Looks like trouble down the road.

And flowering dogwood branch structure does not lend itself to being shortened, with heading cuts having a spoiling effect.

How much further do you think I should move it out? we will be removing the grass there anyway to put in plantings and a path a anyway. I rather take care of this right away before it sets anymore. I measuredast night and it is a little over 5ft from the house. based on what Embo posted it gets 15x15, I think it is close to that height now but still has some width to go.

Another 3 ft or so?

I would go with at least 10 feet away from the wall.

The previous owners of our house planted oleanders too close -- it's windy today and they are whipping against the windows right now, tearing the screens... I don't have the heart to remove them just yet because they shade the bedrooms on the western side, but it's such a pain and the general look is just awkward. I wish I could travel back in time to talk them out of it :)

Another 5 feet would be better (if not more). Could we get a pic of the house face on to get a sense of how it relates to the whole?

tj

I'm at work right now so I only have old pictures of before we bought the house. I can take some when I get home....here are old ones for now (before we bought and did any work on the house) so don't judge too harshly. but dogwood is approximate location of serviceberry location (right of front door in 1st picture and left side of 2nd picture looking toward side yard)

Since you are going to be moving the dogwood:

Read the 'How to dig a hole and plant a tree' pdf from WSU posted above.

Plant the dogwood 10' minimum away from the roof line with the trunk centered in the wall space to the right of the window.

Added: It is perfectly fine for the dogwood to be at the very front edge of the new planting bed.

And it is probably a good thing you did not post a before picture with the Serviceberry. There may have been a loud chorus wanting to save it.

first.. next time.. buy smaller ... and dont buy a plant you cant pull out of the pot at the nursery.. to look at the roots... had i done that.. and seen this.. i would have walked away.. unless i paid less than 20 bucks for it ...

second ... is it dormant ... leafless ... if so.. you could bare root it... and find out what kind of mess of roots you have in there.. and fix the problems before planting ... if gal is right.. and its been in teh pot so long.. you cant find any trace of burlap .... then most likely you have horrible windings roots.. which can easily doom a large tree transplant

below is a pic of how i used to move 7 foot cherry trees ...

third.. i did not read the whole post.. for some reason it just showed up on my computer ... and i dont have time to see if any of this was covered ...

the key to moving or planting trees... is do it in dormancy ... 6 to 8 weeks before the soil warms ... so the roots can settle and start pumping water.. before active growth starts ...

finally ... use the old cost benefit ratio in deciding what to move.. and what to keep ... 6 hours of heavy back breaking labor.. usually isnt worth it.. on a plant you can buy for 20 bucks .... especially if its a fast growing shrub ...

that said.. trying and learning is always worth it.. even if you lose ... you learn how not to do it .. lol

ken

Christopher-I don't disagree with you there, I liked the serviceberry and wanted to keep it but my husband hated it and we went back and forth over it for a year. He is also the one who wants trees right in front of the house for privacy where I prefer something a little more open. But I will save my garden marital woes for another day.

Here are pictures from today, youll see the left of the house does not have that butterfly bush (fell down in a snow storm) and it instead has JM Summer Gold (I am now just realizing both trees are named "summer gold"-what are the chances) in a pot (because previous JM died of verticillium wilt). I included a couple of pictures so you get an idea of the front space. The last picture I out the green tub 10 ft out from the house, is this where you would put the tree.

One last idea....should I switch the JM and dogwood placement? that way I could plant the JM directly in the ground.

'Garden Marital Woes' is a title just looking for an author at Timber Press. Marriage navigational skills are not uncommon with good landscape professionals. To wit: Window Privacy and The Big Bush. You will get a lot more privacy from the dogwood if you put it out by the sidewalk. You want the Big Bush right in front of the people's faces who are looking in from the sidewalk and road. The closer they are to it, the more it blocks their view. There is no need to block your own view looking out. Perhaps you could also attempt to train your partner in the fine art of curtains and blinds. That is a joke, but sometimes it actually is the most reasonable landscape solution.

As for verticillium wilt and Japanese maples I do not know if replanting in the same place is a problem. I will say a lovely JM confined to a white pot like that hurts me a little. Switching sides of the JM and dogwood isn't a problem if needed. But....

If we can move them both to the fence side of the yard making bigger beds behind the fence that could include some select evergreen shrubs or more 'Summer Gold' kind trees for even more privacy from the peepers and rubberneckers out there, that will change things. You can continue with the smaller foot print current foundation planting scheme in front and have openings to the lawn in the center of the walk both sides.

Your last picture freaked me out a little. It looks like you had already moved the dogwood right next to the front walk. It took me a moment to realize you were on the front stoop looking down.

Post immediately preceding this one covers the key points. Put the dogwood where it has room to size up - I guarantee it is not going to stay 15' tall or wide - and design the spaces between the windows and the fence to be garden scenes that are enjoyed from inside the windows. Instead of blocking the windows with trees so that the backsides of the trees are all you can see from inside that part of the house.

Also you need to plan for being able to walk around the outside of the house. Without being blocked by bushy, low branching tree growth that fills the whole space.

Yes: soil where a tree that had verticillium wilt was growing should be assumed to be infested, not used for a new planting of another susceptible kind of tree.

Maple (Acer spp.)-Verticillium Wilt | Pacific Northwest Pest Management Handbooks (pnwhandbooks.org)

I'll respond more in depth when I'm inside since I'm doing some yard work on the backside of the house now. but wanted to show you some other pictures so you can an idea where we have other trees we are working with. so in the first picture looking from our drive towards the house, all that grass is going since it grows poorly here (part shade) and we will add a path and plants that lead to the backyard. As you can see we have two large hornbeam trees as street trees. in the far corner is a white birch BUT that sadly has to be removed, it has that beetle disease that is killing all our white birch, I'm unsure if this is a problem only in my area or other parts of the country. Maybe I can convince my husband to put it where the birch is and plant the potted JP where the dogwood would have gone (not the location of verticillium wilt)? I feel like I'm talking In circles I hope that makes sense.

And Christopher, that should be a book! So we added bottom up-top down shades so you think that would be enough and I added an evergreen mexican orange bush to the picket-side of the fence to act as a visual barrier (once it's bigger) but apparently it's not enough privacy. To make matters worse my husband is an "I'm always right type of person" but I did not feel this issue was big enough to divorce him over ;) maybe some of you would disagree.

The birch would have gone on to get very much larger than it is now if bronze birch borer had not finally made it into our region during later years and found your tree. And after birches get some size (15 years after planting, according to George Schenk) you can't get anything to do well directly beneath them. Unless climate and soil are damp enough to compensate. But then there is also the weevil damage that plants get when under birches...

If the trees have to go in front of the windows to save your marriage, than that's were they will go. Design wise with these trees it is not a disaster. Lets just scooch them out a bit, center the trunks on the side wall and switch so the JM can go in the ground. That JM can be closer to the house than the dogwood.

Y'all are doing an excellent makeover job. Good team work.

Just wanted to add that Japanese maples make excellent container trees!! And can avoid Verticillium wilt issues - rather common in the PNW - via this planting method.

I have a collection of some two dozen JM's of a range of sizes in containers, one which I have owned for more than 25 years.

Thanks Chris for all your helpful suggestions and saving my marriage, I will start digging the new hole tomorrow.

Gardengal-so nice they also work in containers, keeps them a bit smaller too, right? I love them on patios. Your garden always sounds so beautiful.

Hutchae, just want to say that you are perhaps the most delightful accepter (is that a word?) of advice ever! Much happiness to you and spouse in the gardening years ahead (lovely house and garden is bound to be wonderful as well). The tree will look terrific once you move it out from the house.

"Your garden always sounds so beautiful."

It is not very attractive at the moment :-) Dealing with a lot of winter damage this year! Two trees came down recently - one of the disadvantages of living surrounded by mature woods - and one managed to crash through a major planting area, squashing shrubs and decapitating one of my JM's. ☹ And recent windstorms have left all sorts of debris scattered hither and yon.

Needs some serious attention before it looks the slightest bit photogenic again. Now if it would only stop raining long enough for me to get some work done.........

Deception Pass State Park - our State's favorite State Park - recently had the most wind damage since the 1990s, with failures of 32 "old growth" trees.

cyn427-lol, thanks, I try. sometimes harder said than done. I appreciate the kind words :) Hoping the garden makes some good progress this year, especially in this area.

Gardengal- That sounds horrible and I hear you. I feel like this past month has been an especially rainy month or maybe I'm just having amnesia and it's always this bad. I can't wait for spring to be almost here! Around this time of year I start googling...."when do trees start leafing out". I always forget, I need some green in my life! I'm sure your garden will be looking beautiful again soon.

I didn't want to leave you all hanging, this morning I dug up and moved the tree out further and also pushed it more towards the corner of the house. I also got the hole deeper so it's only about an inch or 2 above the soil line. So I think mission accomplished, time for a glass of wine (or two).

Need a pic. or it didn't happen! Can you put down the bottle for a second? ;>)