Question
I just planted a Dogwood that I bought from a local nursery (Mobile, AL.). It's the second day of watering, and I was examining the trunk. I noticed tiny (1/4 to 1/2 in) worms slowly wiggling around in the dirt near the trunk after watering. Then I noticed some on the base of the trunk. Some of them seemed quite contempt to contract back into the trunk when I try to pluck them away, but some were just in the dirt. They are transparent, some I can see dirt or waste inside of them. Any ideas on what they are and how to destroy them if they are bad?

Answer
Does not sound like any insect that attacks trees. Maybe an insect that is feeding on the decaying material like the potting soil used when the seeding was grown at the nursery. There are a number of insects that feed on decaying material and identifying them from the larvae is difficult and in this case it is not really necessary  to determine exactly what they are since they will not attack the tree. To give you peace of mind, I would spray around the tree with a contact insecticide--sevin, malathion are two that will work. This will kill the larvae.