In addition, some species of trees and shrubs may not be available or do not respond well as a bare root plant, and/or some nurseries may not have trees available for bare root retail sale at all.

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The most significant downsides to bare-root trees are their limited window of availability, and short planting time frame. Nurseries dig up and ship these trees while they're still dormant.

Ideally, bare root roses should be soaked in a bucket of water for a few hours before planting to make sure the roots are not dry when planting,' says Morris Hankinson of Hopes Grove Nurseries.