I think you are right. It seems shameful that burlap still is planted with trees these days. It just doesn't make any sense to me. Your tree photo definitely indicates a tree planted too deep....I cannot see the root flair in the photo. Once you uncover it you will know it. The buttress should be more and the roots larger beneath the flair. On my bur oak, I removed 2 of the 4 roots that were growing perpendicular to the trunk after uncovering them. (advantitious roots). So far they don't seem to be causing any problems. The good news is 1. your bur oak will love you for excavating the flair and will reward you the next season with more vigorous growth. Mine was uncovered 3 years ago, and has improved every year since. The leaves are a darker more natural looking green. The leaves are larger. And the tree overall is much more dense with leaves. The flair has expanded. The branches have spread more. This year the tree produced 100 acorns until the squirrels got to them. Last year there were 25. The first year, less than 10. After you find and expose the flair, leave it alone. Some people build a wall around the resulting ditch, to keep it from filling back it. Some fill it with stones. I left mine as is. I hand trim the grass that has filled in, but thats about it. Also, I've read university research that explained that circling roots (roots circling under ground around the root ball) are not as big a problem for oaks, as they are for maples. This is because oak roots underground usually graft, or fuse together. Whereas maple roots will not do this, creating more of a 'choking' effect to the other roots in the rootball. I also have a lacey oak that looks like it's entire pathetic rootball has cricling roots around it. The lacey is only 5 feet tall, and has been in the ground a year. But I planted it high, and if the circling roots ever become a problem by girdling the tree, then I can easily remove them. Right now, I am leaving the circling roots in tact because they are by far the largest roots on the tree. Good luck.
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