I'm wondering if I should call them & see if they'll come out and at least remove the ties.

Removing the burlap is not a requirement, although strongly suggested - removing any ties, ropes or metal caging IS a requirement! If not treated, burlap will rot in time and generally offers little impediment to root development........I can't tell you how many times I've encountered B&B trees or shrubs with fresh feeder roots growing through the burlap and that pulling that material off would destroy. But you do want to remove any material from around the trunk or stem and make sure that any remaining burlap is below the soil level, otherwise it can wick water away from the rootball.

Making a shallow moat or basin at a reasonable distance around the root ball with mulch or soil can help to retain water when irrigating so that it sinks into the soil properly. If your trees are doing well after a year, I doubt there is a lot you need to worry about, providing the above conditions (all ties and metalwork removed and no visible burlap showing) have been addressed and the trees were otherwise planted correctly and watered adequately.

the burlap is tied around the trunk/stem.

Operative term "treated". Or plastic - any wrappings that have not melted away before roots that have grown through them thicken will become constricting.

I'd strongly suggest it is not OK to leave burlap, wire, tying materials and what have you in the planting hole. Just attended yet another round of Wisconsin Arborist Association workshops dealing with exactly this topic and once again, numerous exhumed specimens were on hand to see the various crippling morphologies caused by leaving this junk in the hole.

Gal knows her stuff, but when she speaks of having seen roots growing through old burlap, I think it's important to point out, this simply does not prove anything, except that in those cases, with that burlap, with that tree type....roots were able to do that. We have on hand numerous examples of where the burlap did not rot, did go on to cause root anomalies. etc.

Like I always say, if removing all this stuff causes the tree planting to take another five minutes (which is itself debatable), of what consequence is this in a plant we expect to live for perhaps one hundred years? It fades to insignificance.

Whenever and wherever possible folks, plant the roots, not the hardware that was intended to hold the ball together.

Yes, I do want stress that I was referring to untreated burlap only. It does breakdown very rapidly and makes removal nonessential. And those fine feeder roots that may be growing through the burlap are rather critical to leave in place if at all possible - B&B stock has enough issues with compromised root systems and removing any feeder roots that may be present by ripping off untreated burlap just compounds any establishment issues. And as I stated clearly (I hope!), ALL ties, ropes, nylon string, wire or other attachments and metal baskets DO need to be removed before planting. And for sure you want to loosen any burlap around the trunk and pull it back or cut it off before planting.

just dig down a couple inches.. and get the exposed stuff off .. it can wick moisture out of the soil ... because of its exposure to the atmosphere ...

if untreated.. it may already be rotted enough.. to pull it out without digging ...

ken

here you go gracie01, this is a Hinoki Cypress that I bought as a two gallon plant in the early 80s. Needless to say it has been transplanted several times since then.

I use polypropylene twine and coffee bags for burlap. I never remove either. Needless to say, I never wrap the twine around the trunk. Look closely, the remnants of twine are still there, burlap has looooong since rotted and forgot about. The only problem is the "help" keeps hitting the branches with the lawn mower :) otherwise the plant is the picture of health.

You should avoid advice where someone says always & never. Kinda like saying all kids that get vaccinated get autism.

Gracie, just because Sam's didn't have adverse effect doesn't mean it's good practice . . .

Around here at least one of the wholesale nurseries (plus some in the area I grew up in northern Ohio) some of the "burlap" is actually a woven polypropylene or nylon or some other manmade fiber that doesn't rot. The plants really suffer if that isn't removed!

This^. One anecdote proves nothing, two anecdotes aren't much better. As a a member of the Wisconsin Arborist's Association since 1989, I must have been in attendance at a dozen workshops by now wherein numerous large tables were set up with hundreds of examples-not one or two-of "exhumed" dead tree root systems were displayed, showing a host of problems caused by it "being OK" to leave this stuff in the hole. And just because someone saw examples of burlap rotting, it simply does not follow that this is always the case. Again, those sample I constantly refer to show this.

Nor do I agree that tearing off burlap wherein feeder roots have grown through is a big deal. Trees (and all plants) grow these fine feeder roots, they subsequently do their thing, then die, only to be replaced by new structures, numerous times over the course of a single growing season. They're not precious.

Again, let's spend another two minutes with a bolt cutter and get that metal cut away and removed....and let's fish the twine out of the hole, right after we cut the burlap away. Really....we can't spend two more minutes in planting something that should outlive us all?

.......all that said, this is one case where great minds (or even mediocre ones like mine) can disagree. I happen to believe what my eyes have told me over the years.....make that decades....that it is best-practice to remove as much hardware, tying materials, and yes, burlap, as is possible at time of planting.

I've posted commentary to that effect (remove all foreign materials, plants do not die if some roots are removed at planting, and so on) from specialists in planting and other practices on this web site for years. Including Linda Chalker-Scott's Myth of Fragile Roots web page. At this point we're at the stage where removal of even the (usually different) soil the plant came in at planting has been advocated. Makes sense to me, in fact this is something I wanted to do decades before I saw it being given the nod by others.

Not that I don't often continue to plop things in without taking the time to mess with roots, just like so many others. With the result that I am having some recent plantings falter, due no doubt to the intact potting soil root-balls constantly shedding water to the much more finely textured natural soil they were placed in.

I recently dug up two azaleas that couldn't be watered enough. Everyother day they just wilted. What dumb a-s plopped them in the ground root bound, looking just like the pot they had been planted in?

Me, and I know better. I really,really do. I have a growing list of reasons not to buy sale plants in summer. I was in such a hurry to get them in the ground I didn't take the time to prepare them and then it got so hot I couldn't deal with re-doing them correctly. Then I was embarrassed for myself when I saw the (mediocre ) results of my sloppy work and still ended digging them up and preparing the roots properly for re-planting. What a waste of time and effort when it could have been done right the first time

The reason burlap is treated is because untreated it can decay and fall apart faster than it can be sold to the customer and planted, as in the case where it is held over for a year before being sold. If the roots are growing through the decaying burlap then the burlap is not an impediment and removing the burlap destroys those roots. It's been my experience that most of the burlapped rootballs that I've planted were fairly recently wrapped and therefore the burlap needed to be removed. Plastic and wire removal is a no brainer.

>as in the case where it is held over for a year before being sold<

Supposedly dichlobenil (Casoron) was developed originally to prevent roots of burlapped stock stored in sawdust beds from growing out of the balls and into the sawdust. Other signs of an interest in convenience and economy taking precedence over good cultural practice are leaving stock in containers too long before potting on, cutting tops back instead of potting on - so that the specimen then has a deformed top in addition to deformed roots - and failure to maintain fertilization routines.

Normally functioning plants are living things that grow bigger every year, yet when used for decoration are very often thought of and handled as though they were instead pieces of furniture or sculpture. With the Oregon based wholesaler Iseli nursery even coming up with the marketing phrase Living Art.

You sure didn't get what you paid for, which was a professional job done. If this were done to me I would raise holy heck with them on Yelp, and all forms of social media, if they didn't come and remove the burlap. Then I would go outside and dig all the plants up and fix them myself. I mean, you can't let your plants slowly die on your watch. Grit your teeth, roll up your sleeves, and go out and remedy the situation, this fall, once they're dormant. This investment is too important to leave to chance, to basically hope for the best. This is your hard-earned money, and your property's curb appeal, protect it.

ilovemytrees: Unfortunately these are very big shrubs with huge root balls. No way I could dig them up myself.

Get the help then from friends, family, neighbors, anyone, even if you have to throw a few bucks at them to do it. Any shrub can be dug up relatively easy. I have 2 forsythias that are about 7-8 ft tall, and it wouldn't take that long to dig them up. Just run water around them to make the soil softer.

This is the response I received from the landscaper: (he didn't mention the wire they left).

We use thistle burlap for all of our trees and shrubs. It is biodegradable and designed to degrade over the course of the year. We don’t use nylon burlap or nylon straps around the burlap, because of the fact it is not biodegradable. Yes, 20 years ago and people who don’t know what they are doing use nylon burlap and it can stunt the growth of the plant. We do not.

Also, the better the root ball stays intact and together the first year, the better the chance the plant has to survive. Because of the climate in which we live, the freeze during the winter months will kill the root system if they are exposed and not held intact. The burlap holds and keeps the roots together, and allows for the plant to acclimate to its surroundings. When the plant is ready to grow and develop its root system, the thistle burlap has already degraded at the bottom and sides

>When the plant is ready to grow and develop its root system<

Transplants that aren't in such poor condition or circumstances that they are unable to produce a normal level of growth will generate new roots the first spring after planting, continue with a comparatively small amount of root growth the first summer after planting, and have a major push of root extension (60% of the annual total) the first fall after planting. With winter hardy stock in suitable climates perfectly timed plantings will occur right before the fall root rush, resulting in immediate substantial engagement of the new site.

One year, therefore, is way too long for roots to have not grown through wrappings - and healthy plants definitely do not pause their root growth for a year after planting.

While shopping for trees at my favorite nursery, we

recently overheard another customer ask a staff

person about installing her newly purchased B&B tree.

“When I plant my tree I should take off the burlap

and twine, right?” she asked. “Oh no,” exclaimed the sta

ffer. “You don’t want to disturb the root ball.

Just peel the burlap back from the trunk and leave the

rest intact. Otherwise, the root ball will collapse

and the tree will die.”

At first glance, this appears to be reasonable advi

ce. Balled and burlapped, or B&B trees, are much

heavier than containerized plants and one can visua

lize the root ball collapsing and crushing the root

system. The weight of the root ball also helps stab

ilize the tree and prevent tilting or falling. Finally, the

root ball soil contains beneficial microbes and other

soil organisms that can help ease transplant shock to

the root system. With these benefits in mind, why would you consider doing anything differently?

https://puyallup.wsu.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/403/2015/03/bb-root-balls.pdf