Your roots are showing.

Root washing is turning the traditional way of planting trees and shrubs on its head. The procedure involves taking a tree or shrub, either container grown or B&B, and gently washing the soil from the roots. Why? Removal of soil allows the roots to be clearly seen. As a result any girdling, or circling roots can be removed. Girdling roots happen when material is grown in a container or B&B for too long. Roots cannot grow outward so they begin to circle. Because of “root memory” they continue to do so even when transplanted. Girdling roots can end up strangling a tree. Removal of girdling roots will give any new transplant a better start. Trunk, or root, flare (which is where the first main roots attach to the trunk) is also more easily seen when soil is removed by root washing. Since many trees die because they are planted too deeply identifying the flare is crucial to success. Additionally by removing the medium around the root ball you allow the roots to adjust to their new home immediately without having to travel across the “interface” zone. This is the area between the root ball soil, which is typically clay, and the backfill soil. Roots do not easily pass from one type to the other.

This all seems to make sense to me and I confess I have always removed burlap when planting trees despite being told I shouldn’t.