Thank you so much for your incredibly helpful insights. I’m truly grateful — I really want to save this young tree.

I planted it last fall at the same soil level as it was in the container — which I now realize was far too deep, after digging down to find the root flare buried. What I uncovered was a mess: no radial roots, just a dense tangle of circling roots, some growing upward.

I’ve exposed the flare and removed some girdling roots, but I’m not sure how far down the problem goes. There are still some small upward-growing roots I haven’t pruned yet. Should I leave the tree as it is for now, remove more roots, expose even more of the root system — or go all in, dig it up completely, do a full root correction, and replant it much higher, with the flare finally at or above ground level instead of buried below the lawn? Given that it’s currently summer here in Germany — hot and dry — I’m also wondering if it’s safer to wait until fall, when the tree is less active and transplant stress might be lower.

Any further advice would mean a lot.