How your trees are bought at the retail nurseries and Garden Centers can make a difference on how they are planted and cared for. Smaller trees can often be found as a potted plant where the plants entire root system is in that pot. Larger trees are often hand dug or machine dug and called balled and burlaped. The last two have a portion of their root system is left behind when dug. The planting hole can be as important as the condition of the tree itself. Planting holes should be not deeper the soil in a pot or the fair roots of a balled and burlaped tree.