Ether Jones wrote:
The local mega-mart sells 6' tall potted trees. I'd guess the pot is
about 2 gallons or so.

When the tree is removed from the pot for planting, should the root
ball be left completely undisturbed, or should an attempt be made to
gently shake or pull the roots free?


I bought one of these trees, dug a hole about 3 times as wide and twice
as deep as the pot, filled the hole with 120 pounds of topsoil, moved
some of the topsoil away to make room for the root ball, cut away the
plastic pot from the root ball, placed the root ball into the hole,
backfilled with topsoil, and watered. Now I'm wondering if I should
have done something with the root ball before planting.


A lot depends on how long the tree has been in the pot, and whether or
not it has become root bound. If the roots are very tightly matted &
intertwined at the bottom and sides, a bit of loosening is in order. I
like using a blunt hand garden fork to carefully work the bottom roots
loose a bit, and spread them out somewhat. Then cover them with nice
loose amended soil.

If the roots are not matted, no extra detangling is necessary.