Step 1 - Plant it too deep. Plant with the root flare ( where the trunk meets the roots) well below ground level. This makes water and oxygen less available to the roots and given time the tree will likely die.

To do it right - Get the depth right - the root flare should be at ground level.

2 - Don't examine the roots to see if they are root bound in the container or burlap.

3 - Dont' disturb the roots they are too fragile and will be damaged. This is true for small plants but not trees.

Tree roots need to be examined to see if they turn back on themselves or are growing arround the inside of the container or burlap ball. Reject severely root bound trees. Prune minor problems. Spread the roots out to give them a good start. See this case study.

4 - Dig the hole 50% deeper than the root ball and put a mixture of soil and organic material in the bottom.

What happens is that the organic material will decay and be gone in a few years. Now the tree sinks until the root flare is below ground and the tree will not prosper as well as it could.

5 - Leave the burlap and wire basket on the roots - they will grow through it so why go to extra effort to remove it and the roots are fragile.

NOT SO! For roots to escape the burlap takes time and energy at a time when both are in short supply. The tree needs new roots and the nutrients they supply as soon as possible so why slow the process of forming new roots? The wire is not a problem initially when roots are small but as a root grows it can be damaged by pressing on the wire.

6 - Don't fertilize newly planted trees.

Partly true. If the fertilizer is mainly nitrogen - as many are - it will encourage growth in the upper canopy at a time when the most important growth is in the roots. However there are nutrients that are usefull at this stage: Mychorrhizal fungi, Trace metals, Soil bacterial spores. Thes can be enormously beneficial.

See the Biomax page