What did I do wrong in planting my Cercis?

I bought a "Forest Pansy" Cercis when I had the chance because of the lovely pictures here. It 's about 3 1/2 feet tall. I planted it about 6 weeks ago where it would get a fair amount of afternoon sun because I was thinking that sun brings out color on plants. Then I read that too much sun would wash out the colors on this, so I finally moved it yesterday to a shadier spot that I preferred for it anyway.

When I planted it, the roots were fine and loose. It's one of my first purchases that wasn't rootbound! The potting mix was rich and loose and had some kind of bark in it and nothing artificial looking like I am used to seeing in most of what I have bought.

I made a nice wide hole with some moldy leafy gunk mixed in, spread the roots out (most were very fine) and watered regularly. When I dug it out to move it, digging the root "ball" area a lot larger than it had come with, it had grown a lot of larger roots which it hadn't had. The problem is that the roots were starting to grow in circles as if the darned thing was still in the pot and becoming rootbound!

What did I do wrong?

I don't know what type of soil you have, but especially if it's clay this is an easy problem to run into. When you're planting trees (especially in clay), you shouldn't amend the planting hole--this creates a nice environment of loose soil where your roots would love to stay rather than extending out into the native soil like they're supposed to. This creates the effect of them becoming pot-bound even though they're in the ground. You're better off getting rid of as much of the container soil as possible and plant them straight in your native soil, then the roots will go out into the soil like they're supposed to.

There wasn't any clay. In fact, the soil where I first planted was nice and brown and easily diggable. I probably didn't even have to add the moldy leaves, but what the hay, the earth was dug up already so I figured why not?

I did leave a fair amount of the potting stuff because it looked to be entirely natural. I think in addition to the bark that I could make out finely ground rotted leaves and "dirt". Also the roots (most were fine, I can't recall now seeing bigger roots like were there when I moved it) freed and spread out easily. I did shuffle the bottom of the root mass too. It was loose there also, unlike some container plants I've gotten that aren't really rootbound but the very bottom has a tight mass of roots.

Personally I thought the planting hole was pretty hospitable for spreading root growth. Are there any trees/bushes that are supposed to grow in a circular fashion?

What I think happened is, your native soil and the soil the tree was planted in, were too different. Since you added humus in the form of moldy leaves to the planting hole, and not as top-dressing mulch, you inadvertently created hospitable conditions for the roots to circle around the nice, moist, nutrient-rich leaves. So as long as you didn't repeat this mistake when you moved the tree, and you spread the roots out in the planting hole, it should be fine. Keep it well watered until the ground freezes, then top-dress with chopped leaves. This will keep the ground temperature around the tree constant.

PG, I did spread the roots on replanting and did not supplement the soil. It has no leaves now, so (like the dormancy thread I posted), I should still do supplemental watering beyond what I gave it on replanting?

By the way, PG, that Amelanchier I planted - it has those little nub things on all its branches now. I'm thinking they are for leaves, not flower buds? Whatever they are, they grew after I planted it so I think it's going to make it!

First let the soil dry out completely, then make sure it gets one inch of water a week. I bought a little rain gauge from the dollar store, but you don't need an exact measurement, LOL. Your amelanchier sounds like it's going to make it. Yipee!

You know that a Forest Pansy must curl up to feel secure in a harsh new environment. I always select tougher names like 'Blackbeard' or 'Callamity Jane'. They take over the area they are planted in. Just change the name of the tree to Bubba. LOL

"Bubba" is not a fit. I will commune with it over the winter to find an appropriate nickname.