contact them and ask them ... and report back ..

never start pruning on a new transplant for at least 2 years.. imo ....

every leaf is a food making machine.. to grow the roots .. to get the trees established ..

it really doesnt matter what your plan is for the tree .. if you dont develop a proper root mass ...

get over one stress .. two.. shipping and planting.. before you start inflicting new stress.. like canopy removal ..

if you want our opinion.. im thinking we will need a pic for such ...

ken

Ken, you may want to do some additional research. Bare root fruit trees are routinely pruned at time of planting and most fruit tree specialty sites will encourage you to do so. With bare root stock there is no canopy yet to remove. What the pruning does at that time is equalize the root to shoot ratio and help you get started on structural training, which is critical with new young trees and even more so when attempting to train as an espalier.

i have received hundreds of bare root trees in the mail.. and dont really need you to suggest i need to research such ...

from 6 inch sticks with 2 inch roots.. [arbor day] ....to 6 foot trees .. [a 4 foot tree with a huge root mass]

and he mentions nothing about size ... status of the roots.. nor any other pertinent facts .. to determine if canopy reduction is a good thing to do at planting ...

all i know.. is a tree breaking dormancy bare root.. is using energy stored in the bare roots.. and if that energy is not replaced ... the tree will suffer until it does so .. and he should be aware that the leaves are the primary source of said energy production ...

with trees we think in terms of tree time.. decades .. and there is no real hurry to start cutting on a newly planted tree ...waiting until fall would not really impact his pruning goals but may significantly increase the odds of success ...

all that said.. if i expected a dormant bare root tree.. and they sent it actively growing bare root.. i would have called them before the package hit the ground.. and informed them.. that i was unhappy .. and would expect a replacement.. a dormant replacement immediately ... and if i bought on the cheap .. and winged it.. i would chalk it up to my bad ...

ken

" i have received hundreds of bare root trees in the mail.. and dont really need you to suggest i need to research such ... "

If that were the case, then you should know exactly how common and expected this practice is with fruit trees. But then you've stated repeatedly that growing fruit trees is too much bother for the result so maybe this is not common knowledge for you.

The OP also clearly stated there were no leaves. No leaves yet means no canopy/foliage to support any root growth. And that means we are back to the root to shoot ratio that early bare root pruning is intended to balance.

Every grower I've ever purchased from recommended cutting bare root fruit trees way back at the time of planting, except for those who sent them already pruned. I've always done it, with good results.

Sorry for the delay in replying, I thought I had email notifications turned on, but something went wonky. I'll take a picture in the morning to share.

Oh, and FYI, I'm a SHE, not a he. ;)

Not sure what to comment on the roots - the shredded stuff the roots were wrapped in was pretty dry when I picked them up from the post office and drove them home, so i gave them a 30 min soak in water while I double checked everything was ready to plant them. i made sure to shield them from wind and sun until seconds before they were in the hole and covered with dirt. But they looked basically the same (few big long ones) as the apples, pears, and plums I planted. Those other fruits had their first leaves already popping when they shipped, then curled and turned black (I assume due to shipping time), but are now growing back just fine.

I'm still waiting to hear back from the folks who sent them...they are hutterite, I believe, so it takes a few days for email --> handwritten note --> field --> response --> etc

live peach (harrow diamond)

Closeup of live peach

and poor dead? peach (chinese honey peach)

Note we had 1" of rain and a week of cooler temps, then a day of hot sun (80s), so the top is only cracked for the top 1/4', and damp below.

Oh i can also share this pic of how all the bare root trees arrived together. I took one pic inside my house then into water they went.

Looking at the photos (and going outside to check the trees again) it looks like the honey peach is the one with the green past and the white stuff (which seemed like a mold that was soft/squishy) when I received it. Could that be what killed it?

...still waiting to hear back from the shipper...but thinking the chinese peach is dead. :(