the root flare is your guide ...

https://duckduckgo.com/?t=ffab&q=tree+root+flare&iax=images&ia=images

if there isnt one for some odd reason... plant it just above the first root ...

snap some pix ... if you want input ...

i dont understand if they were just planted ... im not sure i would dig up an established tree to lift it.. if its very slight.. again... pix ...

whats all the yellow stuff in the first pic.. im not sure i would be putting time release on tree this time of year ... and definitely not that much ... and definitely not on a new transplant ...

ken

They have been plated for about 2 years form bare root saplings. That is preen on the first tree. They are doing fine and show no distress signs. I do not think any of them were grafted. When I planted them they small and I had less experience and did not see a distinguished root flare.

These are closer pictures of them at soil level.

Gently scrape away the soil from around the trunks until you find the top roots coming off the trunks. That will tell you how deep they are and if it needs to be corrected.

That's a lot of Preen. And people wonder why I think this stuff's root growth inhibiting chemical is Landscape Fabric 2.0