Should Burlap Be Removed When Planting A New Tree? Gardening ...

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The majority of tree-planting advice suggests removing burlap, baskets and such after the new tree is safely in the hole.

(George Weigel)

Q: I keep hearing conflicting advice on this... when planting a new balled-and-burlapped tree, should I remove the burlap or not?

A: Yeah, that one is still debated, and even tree experts don't all agree.

Some growers and nurseries say to plant a balled-and-burlapped tree as is, including with the wire basket in place and the burlap intact. They're mainly concerned about soil falling from the root ball and tearing off roots. Some sellers will even void warranties if the root ball is disturbed.

Always carry a new tree by the pot or root ball and not by the trunk to minimize the chance of clods falling off.

On the other hand, most new research is showing that both container-grown and balled-and-burlapped trees do best when all of the soil is removed (ideally washed off) so that the root system can be inspected.

This gives the planter a chance to prune or correct circling, entwined and damaged roots and also to aid in identifying the crown or "flare" of the tree - the point where the trunk morphs into the root zone. That's very important to know because the flare should end up just above grade to avoid too-deep planting - a leading cause of tree death.

Obviously, baskets and burlap need to come off to make this kind of bare-root inspection and planting possible.

The majority of advice falls between the two, i.e. let the root ball intact but remove string, rope, wire baskets and burlap once the tree is safely in the ground. The exception is removing some of the top of the root ball until the root flare is visible.

The reasoning behind that is that the burlap bag is to help keep the root ball in place during sale and transport, but that once the tree is in the ground, the burlap impedes root penetration into the surrounding soil until it decays.

Not everyone agrees on even that. I've seen burlap still not fully rotted even 2 or 3 years after planting, which makes me think it's at least a possible impediment to the spreading roots.

However, when researchers compare trees planted with the burlap left on vs. removed, there's little to no difference.

So what can an average gardener make of all of this?

I've decided to go with the majority - let the root ball intact but get rid of the burlap, basket, etc. once the tree is planted.

However, I'm also careful to find the root flare and have found that this key to proper planting depth is often buried a few inches deep in the balled-and-burlapped root ball. So in addition to removing the burlap and such, I'll remove soil from the top of the ball until I locate the flare.

Be aware, though, that even though removing soil to expose the flare and washing roots to unearth and correct root problems is most likely a benefit to tree-planting success, it could void your tree warranty.