The four most common planting mistakes are planting too deep, leaving circling roots unfixed, spacing plants for the pot instead of the mature size, and piling mulch against the trunk. Burying the root flare, the spot where the trunk widens into roots, suffocates a tree slowly; it should sit slightly above grade. Container-grown plants often arrive rootbound, and circling roots keep circling unless you slice or tease them apart at planting.
Spacing errors show up years later, when shrubs set 2 feet apart because they looked small in nursery pots merge into one maintenance headache. And "mulch volcanoes" hold moisture against bark, inviting rot and rodents; keep mulch about 3 inches deep but 3 to 6 inches back from stems.
Placing plants at mature size is easier with a visual; rough out your beds with AI landscape design first.