Well, I went to Lowes for a piece of PVC and left w/ a 10' Blue Atlas Cedar. It was marked $80....I asked if they would take $20 (little tip...they will almost always go to 75% off but won't go below that). This is DH's favorite conifer...not mine....but....anyhoo...they did accept my offer.

Before you tell me it won't live, I've had 2 WBACs in my yard for almost 10 years now so I'll take the gamble. lol

I'm getting somewhere here....

Anyway, pulled it out of the pot and you can only imagine the rootball. I started digging down and found the root flare 5" below the soil line in the pot. Hello, telephone pole.

I kept blasting it w/ a stream of water and untangling the roots. Ultimately, I had to cut two that were pinky sized and on the way to circling the trunk but there are still a TON of the feeder roots and a couple of other good-sized ones.

The perimeter of the rootball is still a little higher than the flare so my thought is to kind of mash/hold them down when I put the soil on top so they don't create a bowl-like shape.

Am I missing anything or do I pretty much cover it and say hail Mary?