I ordered a bunch of peach and nectarines from Peaceful Valley (groworganic.com). They ship Dave Wilson trees. Trees have always been very nice size and in great condition.
The only downside is that they ship very early for us here in the Northeast. I tried to “heel” them in and I used one of those 27 gallon plastic storage containers and put them in a dark spot in my garage.
This year with the crazy weather and getting caught up in other things, I could not get them in the ground and had to pull them out of the garage and get them outdoors. Originally planning to do it on the weekend.
By the time I was able to get to them they had fully ( and I mean fully) leafed out and there was no way that I could pull the roots apart and plant them.
I will have to “bare root” them myself this winter for planting next spring.
Meanwhile I have the coolest looking storage box with a 5 trunk peach/nectarine shrub/hedge/bush looking thing.
But it just hit me that I don’t actually know how to do that once they go dormant.
When they go dormant it shouldn’t be a problem separating them. You could shake off as much dirt as possible and then take a water hose and spray the roots until they are clean. From there you could pull them apart. You might rip a few roots here and there but just make sure the tree canopy is sized properly for the root ball. If you loose too many roots you’ll have to prune the tree a little more.
Not that I’m aware of. I think you are kinda stuck with what you have at this point if they won’t come apart easily. Hope they make it through the summer and bare root them in late fall.
