Or do you just simply tease the sides and bottom, maybe a knife scoring and plant the whole kit and kaboddle.

Thats exactly what I do. I'm of the opinion that stronger roots will girdle weaker roots as a natural process. A root bound tree will struggle and possibly die regardless what you do so they are a poor investment even at clearance prices.

Is there a particular shrub you’re dealing with? Don’t forget about the top of the rootball as you may need to find the root flare.

tj

Nothing on deck. Do have some new conifers on hand. KInda spurned the question when I reading the replies on my observation of -peat plug plantings-..

https://www.houzz.com/discussions/6169080/what-happens-to-peat-in-flowerbeds#n=24

In the realm of annuals or just 3G shrubs, IME, these are generally easy to tease out. 5G and larger or depending on how long it' been in the pot, is a different story.

The conifers I have - haven't pulled them up to check but as a wild guess, pot size relative to growth, and the sheer amount of fertz prills I see, I'm guessing it will be root heavy

"Do have some new conifers on hand."

Depends on how well grown they are, too- plants from Lowe's will have had far different care than those from Conifer Kingdom.

The poorly grown plants will have been repotted by simply sticking the wadded up/rootbound/circled roots in a larger pot and adding soil. Better grown plants will have had the root balls examined and obvious problems sorted out when being potted up.

>"it's just a pot of roots".... > "getting rid of the original planting medium" ___ Amount of medium is neglibie.

>"a knife scoring" ___ No, I diligently work free plenty of long roots for situating them laterally in the hole. Yes, strategic sacrificing if necessary to free them.

I've never removed the original media when planting from pot to ground since the media is often holding smaller, delicate roots together. As others mentioned, work carefully to loosen and free major roots....cutting where necessary.

I use the slightly rounded end of a children’s paintbrush, inserted tnto the rootball to free the roots.

Then shake or rinse off as much mix as possible.