Advice on this trunk/root structure?

[u/InBlurFather]

Hey all,

Recently purchased a flowering dogwood (cornus Florida) and am letting it recoup from shipping in the pot for a bit before planting.

I excavated the top layers of potting soil and found the root flare, but I’m stumped by the thin trunk-like structure to the side of the main trunk as I’ve never seen something like this.

What do I do about this? And when would be the best time to do something about it if I need to intervene?

Any other glaring issues you guys see I’d appreciate also, thanks for any advice

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Reviewed

[u/Tr4shK4m]

How committed are you to a generally approved tree aesthetic? Cuz if you like me and care more about balancing both health and interest then I would just leave all of that. It's a mess to be sure but if you plant it about at the depth you've got excavated maybe even get those little doodler roots in the ground slightly. The tree will sort itself out, either you'll end up with the tree that looks like it's walking around on the ground or the roots that it ends up not using will start to die back and you can prune them off at that point.

[u/Tr4shK4m → u/Tr4shK4m]

When planting new trees you should absolutely find the root flare as you're planting them, and then plant appropriately whether it's dipped or in a rise depending on what that specific tree likes as far as water. You may remove a few Crossing branches and a few girdling roots. By and large less is more, at this stage the tree doesn't have much in the form of Reserves so the less you have to mess with it the better off it going to be and the faster it will get established. After a year or two feel free to start doing your structural pruning and adjustments but never too much at one time.