You should always remove all of the burlap and wire, (like other said the very bottom where the tree is resting is not as important), but remove that if possible. Even if the burlap might decompose slowly it can still cause at least a few roots to circle around, which is very bad and can lead to root girdling which can eventually kill the tree. And who knows, it could be a type of burlap that does not break down, which would certainly kill the tree a lot faster. You'll need to mulch around the tree also if you want the tree to thrive and establish well. Keep it 2 to 4 inches deep (never deeper) and 5+ feet wide is best. Also keep the mulch 3 or 4 inches away from the trunk to prevent bark rot an other problems. Mulch also keeps weed whackers and lawn mowers from scraping the bark off and possibly killing the tree. Go to the link below for more about the many benefits of mulching and why Root Girdling is Bad. Here is a link that might be useful: Mulching and Root Girdling Link

For everything I have read, yes it makes sense that the orange wire replaces the white wire for a heat pump configuration. The white wire is used to turn on the furnace for heat, and the yellow wire enables the condenser for cooling. But you have a heat pump, therefore when you are in heating mode, the thermostat will turn on the condenser (yellow), but it must also enable the reversing valve in the proper direction. The orange wire is used to control the reversing valve. Call the Hunter technical support line at 1-888-830-1326 from 8am to 5pm Central time. They should be able to review this with you and guide on which thermostat is appropriate for your set up.

Petey may be a bit cranky here because we DO get a fair number of people here who want us to bless their code violations as some kind of special case for which an exception is justified. There are a few regulars here who sometimes do that where it makes sense and where there is reasonable precedent - just check out this thread. However, I agree with Petey that this isn't such a case. The code is clear-cut and rational on this point. It shouldn't be a significant burden to comply. In Jeremy's case it just means a little more fishing. To me this is, if nothing else, a matter of good workmanship and pride. Some of the code requirements for ranges were relaxed during the second world war when saving copper was a national priority. That's why the code allowed only 3 conductors instead of 4 for ranges. However, that rule persisted for 50 years after the war! Finally somebody noticed. ;-) I do recall seeing the NEC allowance for connecting both a cooktop and a wall oven to a 50 amp circuit, instead of having separate circuits for them, but I don't remember that the code allowed a smaller tap for each. I could be remembering wrong though, and I don't have the code here to check. But in any case I'd suspect that this ruling was originally another copper-saving measure - which is now no longer really needed. (I know, copper's scarce and pricey right now, but we have aluminum instead. ;-) I don't mean to suggest that I speak for Petey here; he can certainly speak for himself. Nor do I mean to impugn Jeremy's motives. I'm just explaining why some of us (including myself at times) now and then get annoyed with posters who come here for advice (which, I remind you, is free ;-), and then get sore and complain when they don't get the answers they had hoped for. After a while maybe some of us can get a little touchy about this, that's all.

To the OP: You say that you've had "great success" using pushin connectors and that "you trust them more". You *REALLY* *SHOULD* *NOT*! Pushin connectors are, IMHO, sent to us straight from hell. I *never* use pushins and when I'm working on an outlet or switch that uses them, I remove it, throw it away, and install a better one that uses screws. The reason is that your pushin connectors just don't have the necessary surface area to properly handle a decent amount of current. They are quick and easy to use, but "quick" is way too often a sacrifice of "reliable". The little tiny barb that hooks and grabs the wire has nowhere near the surface area of a screw or a compression plate. It might be fine for an amp or 2, but when you start to actually try to carry 15 amps through a 15amp outlet, those little connections start to heat up. Screws are a pain, buy there is a decent compromise available. Buy pro-grade "rear entry" outlets and switches. They have a hole in the back like a pushin, but instead of a spring loaded clip, the straight piece of wire is sandwiched between 2 brass-plated steel plates and then when you turn the screw on the side of the outlet, the 2 plates squeeze tightly onto the wire over it's full length. You can put a decent amount of force on the screw which will tend to flaten the copper wire, which provides for more surface area and a very low-resistance contact.