Take them out of the pot, soak them in a bucket of water for a SHORT time, then try t teaze the roots apart, spread them out as much as possible. If they are really badly root bound, some studies suggest cutting the round cylindrical root baal into a square gives the best results.

Make a hole that is wide and shallow on the edges, and less deep then you think it has to be. If it proes too small you can always make it deeper.

Water them through the summer.

Mulch to keep the root zone cool

Water.

Were they in shade? Going from shade to mid summer sun can be a thing.

You should be alright... container trees are pretty forgiving when it comes to planting in summer. You should be able to tease the roots out by hand . Don't be afraid that get a little rough with the roots. Plant on an overcast day or late in the day if you can, to minimize water loss. And I'd set a rough target that the plants don't go more than four days without deep watering or rainfall through August. Boilerplate advice is once per week, but I have had good luck with twice per week (in my conditions) for summer plantings.

Thanks for the tips everyone. Planned on heavy mulching, and watering at least once a week, depending on rain. Any concerns with taproots on these guys?

.ignore the fact that im stupid enough to do this in june in georgia...

==>>> sorry.. i cant.. low odds of success imo ...

now go prove me wrong ..

except for when its a seedling.. tap roots are just another root ... do whatever you want with it ...

are you planting in that famous GA clay??? if so.. see link about clay... also note section 0ne titled:

1. Choose the proper planting time.

ken

https://sites.google.com/site/tnarboretum/Home/planting-a-tree-or-shrub

Conventional answer to Taproots is to just to cut them. I've experimented with digging a long shallow trench and laying the taproot along the trench, turning it into a lateral root. Jury is still out as to whether that is a good idea. Worked once, failed once.

Well, so far so good. I was blessed with a week of relatively mild temperatures and a lot of rain. They got planted on Wednesday, and over the next 4 days got 3-4 inches of rain, lots of clouds, and highs in the low-mid 80s. I planted them so the root ball stuck about 1/2" above the soil line, and mulched with 3-4" of mulch in a 5' circle. As of right now, they've got no signs of stress. Root balls were perfect...neither tree had a strong taproot (guessing they got root pruned at some point by the nursery), but both had a well developed root system, and neither was root bound at all.

Also, more rain in the forecast, and highs don't start getting into the 90s until next week.

Any ideas on how much water per week to give them? I gave them a little this morning, since today is day #4 in a row with dry air and sun.

Also, Ken, thanks for the advice. It's GA clay alright, but its not that bad. Parts of the property are nearly un-diggable...compacted and tough to get through, even with a pickaxe. The areas planted aren't so bad though. The soil is quite dense, but crumbles pretty well in my hand. I did not amend it, though I loosened it well for a pretty large diameter. I hope I can prove you wrong! I've been lucky so far...