Plant a Balled-and-Burlapped Shrub at the Root Flare

Confirm that the site and shrub belong together

Choose the planting site from the shrub's exact species or cultivar needs, mature spread, hardiness, light, drainage, and soil reaction. Balled-and-burlapped stock is heavy and arrives with a reduced root system inside a field soil ball, so site correction after delivery is difficult. Mark utilities and obtain required permissions before digging. If the mature shrub would block an entrance, foundation vent, meter, sight line, or path, change the site before handling the ball.

Inspect the stock while it is still supported. The ball should be firm enough to move as one unit, the trunk or stems should not wobble independently inside it, and the wrapping should still protect the soil from crumbling. Reject a badly broken, dry, loose, or undersized ball and a shrub with serious stem injury. Do not accept hidden defects merely because foliage currently looks full.

Identify how the ball is assembled. Look for natural or synthetic burlap, nylon or natural twine, straps, nails, a wire basket, plastic film, or an outer pot used for transport. Do not assume brown fabric is biodegradable. Plan the cutting tools and disposal route before the shrub is in the hole, and arrange competent help or mechanical lifting for any load that cannot be controlled safely by hand.

Handle the shrub by the soil ball

Support and lift the shrub from beneath the ball, never by the trunk, branches, twine, or basket rim. The wrapping is packaging for root-soil contact, not a carrying handle. Keep the ball shaded, upright, and evenly moist before planting without leaving it standing in water. A cracked ball can tear fine roots and create internal gaps that are impossible to repair by tightening the outer twine.

Move the shrub on equipment rated for the load and protect paving, steps, slopes, and people along the route. Keep hands and feet away from pinch points when rolling or lowering. Do not improvise with a trunk as a lever. If the ball must be repositioned in the hole, lift or slide from beneath it with appropriate equipment rather than pushing the top growth and breaking the root-soil connection.

Keep the structural wrapping intact during transport and initial lowering. Extra plastic film, an outer marketing pot, or loose straps that are not holding the ball may be removed when safe, but the burlap, twine, and basket that maintain the soil mass stay until the root ball is set. This sequence preserves stability while still allowing the obstructive material to be removed before backfilling.

Dig a wide hole with a firm center

Under the adopted Colorado State protocol, make a saucer-shaped hole three times the root-ball diameter and 1–2 inches shallower than the corrected ball measurement. A 24-inch ball therefore receives a 72-inch-wide surface opening. Leave the central bearing area firm and undisturbed. If the hole is accidentally too deep, replace and compact suitable excavated soil before the shrub is lowered; a soft pedestal can settle under the ball and bury the flare after the work appears finished.

Roughen glazed sides where digging has polished compacted soil, but do not create a bathtub in poorly drained ground. Fill the empty hole with water only when a regional infiltration test specifically calls for it and time and interpret it as directed. Persistent saturation, buried construction debris, or water moving toward a foundation requires a site solution or another planting position, not a richer backfill mix.

Keep excavated soil separate from sod, rubble, and subsoil that should not return around roots. The default backfill is the site's usable excavated soil, which creates a continuous transition beyond the ball. Broad soil improvement may be justified by testing and local guidance, but a highly amended pocket can hold or shed water differently from both the field soil ball and surrounding ground. In wet soil, Colorado State raises roughly one-third of the corrected ball above grade and tapers soil to it; treat that as a scoped response to a wet but otherwise suitable site, not permission to bury the flare, install in standing water, or mound against stems.

Set the intact ball and verify grade

Lower the intact ball onto the firm center, orient the shrub for its best structural and garden relationship, and check the flare against a straight board laid across the surrounding grade. View multi-stemmed plants from several directions. If the shrub is too low or tilted, lift the ball back out and correct the base; do not pull on stems or wedge loose soil under one edge while the full weight remains in place.

Confirm that water will move away from stems without leaving the upper root ball perched and exposed. On a slope, the flare still relates to the local finished grade, while the backfill tapers into existing ground. Do not place excavated soil on top of the ball to hide a high setting. Soil over the root flare recreates the same burial that was corrected at the nursery surface.

Stabilize the lower part of the ball with a shallow ring of firm backfill while keeping upper sides open for wrapping removal. The shrub should remain upright without using the trunk as a brace. This small amount of support is not final backfill; it prevents the ball from rotating while cutters and hands work around the upper basket, burlap, and ties.

Remove wrapping only after the ball is stable

Remove every tie, rope, strap, and loop from around the trunk or stems. Cut rather than tug when pulling could disturb the ball. Remove synthetic fabric, plastic, and nylon because they should not be expected to decompose. Open and cut away burlap from the top so the root flare, upper roots, and root-ball surface remain exposed and no fabric can wick moisture above grade.

Cut away obstructive wire and wrapping from the upper and accessible sides while the ball stays supported. Never leave a basket rim, twine, or burlap collar against living stems or across the upper roots. Use bolt cutters and hand tools from a stable position, turn sharp wire ends away from the root ball and gardener, and remove nails or fasteners that could remain near the trunk or surface.

The retained institutions differ beyond the shared rule to stabilize the ball and clear stems and upper roots. University of Minnesota Extension directs peeling burlap back from the sides and allows material directly beneath the ball to remain. The Morton Arboretum says to remove as much burlap and wire as possible, with a documented exception for a low-profile basket. Colorado State directs removal from at least the upper 12 inches or upper two-thirds of the ball, whichever is greater, and does not accept wrapping left along the sides within its landscape-tree-and-shrub scope.

This article adopts the Colorado State protocol so the reader has one executable sequence: once the ball is set and held by a shallow stabilizing ring, remove all trunk and stem ties and every synthetic covering, then cut natural burlap and basket wire from the upper 12 inches or upper two-thirds of the ball, whichever removes more, including the sides in that zone. Turn cut wire down and away, and remove fasteners. If the ball begins to fracture before that zone is clear, stop backfilling and obtain direction from the supplier or responsible local professional rather than quietly switching protocols.

Do not fold intact burlap upward against the ball or leave material exposed above soil. If lower natural fabric remains under an intact ball under accepted local practice, it must not form a surface wick or collar. Photograph the cleared upper ball before backfilling. The image provides a useful record of flare location and confirms that hidden ties were not simply buried.

Mulch and water as two visible root zones

Apply a conservative organic mulch over the planting area and slightly beyond it, keeping the root flare and stems clear. Taper the material to nothing at living bark and do not use a mound to conceal the raised top of the ball. The visible flare is a permanent reference for grade, mulch movement, and future inspection; preserve it every time the bed is refreshed.

Check moisture inside the original field-soil ball and again in the surrounding soil. The two textures can dry at different rates even when the surface looks uniform. Water when those checks and plant-specific guidance indicate need, applying slowly across the ball and immediate root zone. Do not set an unchanging schedule from a national volume; weather, ball size, soil, drainage, and shrub demand control the interval.

Use temporary staking only if the properly set and stabilized shrub cannot remain upright in the actual site, and follow a regional method that keeps ties off bark and can be removed on time. Shrubs commonly do not need staking. A moving trunk within a firm ball, a rotating ball, or settling grade calls for diagnosis of stock or planting stability, not tighter guying that hides the fault.

Inspect the planting before the hole disappears

Before cleanup, confirm the exact shrub identity, flare elevation, vertical alignment, cleared stem collars, removed synthetic material, cut basket edges below the working surface, backfill contact, drainage, and mulch setback. Photograph the whole plant and the root zone. Store the nursery label and note ball type, planting date, and any lower material retained under local guidance.

Recheck after the first thorough watering and after the soil has settled. A newly buried flare, leaning crown, exposed sharp wire, dry center of the ball, or standing water needs prompt correction while the planting area remains accessible. Watch leaves and stems, but use root-zone moisture and grade as primary evidence; wilt can accompany both dryness and impaired roots in saturated soil.

Continue establishment checks through weather changes and extend care according to plant size, species, site, and regional guidance. Keep grass, edging tools, and deep cultivation away from the expanding root zone. The planting is successful when the flare remains visible, stems are free of packaging, the ball remains stable, roots can move into surrounding soil, and watering decisions become less frequent only as evidence supports them.

Plants in this guide

• Plant reference

  Bigleaf Hydrangea

  A field guide to bigleaf hydrangea: identify its bud-bearing wood, provide morning light and steady moisture, and protect the framework that carries summer flowers.

Related reading

• 

  Grow · mulching

  Mulching Around Perennial Crowns

  Find every plant crown, measure the mulch already present, redistribute sound material, and add only enough to restore the intended final layer.

• 

  Grow · first summer mixed shrub watering

  Water a Newly Planted Mixed Shrub Border Through Its First Summer

  Check each original root ball and its surrounding soil before watering, then adapt delivery by plant, drainage, weather, and the developing root zone rather than following one border-wide schedule.

• 

  Grow · water newly planted tree

  Water a Newly Planted Tree Through Summer Heat

  Check the original root ball and surrounding soil separately, apply slow water across the planting zone, and adjust for rain and drainage while keeping the root flare visible.

Sources

1. Planting and Transplanting Trees and Shrubs. University of Minnesota Extension. Source record · Accessed 2026-08-19.
2. The Science of Planting Trees. Colorado State University Extension. Source record · Accessed 2026-08-19.
3. How to Plant Trees and Shrubs. The Morton Arboretum. Source record · Accessed 2026-08-19.