yesterday i planted 16 arborvitae shrubs. the problem is, we did not know that the root ball that's enclosed  in burlap. this burlap does not extend up tot he trunk of the shrubs. I live in south eastern wisconsin, where the soil is mostly clay'ish and rocky. the description of the trees said they will thrive here once they take hold.
im concerned that the burlap balls will cause the shrubs problems, my fiance who was stuffing the soil around them claims she pulled it whenever she could see the burlap but it would not tear all the way off, just small sections. so assume maybe 3/4 of the burlap is still in place. she also says it tore easily, like paper, so she is assumng that it will just degrade while planted and the roots can escape through the weakened burlap.
after spending 700$ on these things, i do not want to take a chance on them dieing due to the burlap still being draped  around them.
what do you guys say?


cliffs:
-planted 16 emerald green arborviate's
-live in SE wisonsin (clay soil)
-burlap ball still on the shrubs
-will they be harmed by this?
thankls

The burlap is just going to degrade over time; I wouldn't worry about it.  Plus, the roots should be able to go through the holes in the burlap anyway.

I'm in NE IL. Planted similar 2 years ago. Trees, Arbovitae, Shrubs, etc, all with burlap. All planted in rocky/clay dirt. They are all going like crazy. I think you'll be fine. Where did you buy them from? Most places have a year gurantee so save your receipt.

I've planted THOUSANDS of trees and shrubs.
Tear the burlap is a few places, but the burplap goes INTO the ground.
make sure and pull it back from the trunk (there will be nails there, get all those out) so it doesn't strangle it.
the burlap holds the root ball in place while it grows.  If the root ball falls apart while you are planting, you'll have a dead tree.

make sure you puddle the trees in.