I think this works in a perfect soil setup - esp if they did controlled trials where she had an army of assistants monitoring everything. In poor soil (12-16 inches topsoil, deeper than that is old backfill typical of old QLD houses) or volcanic Sandy layer over lava and pumice boulders - bareroot+root pruning is going to be a waste of money and plant torture. Yes, I try my best to amend soil for a large diameter hole, but unless I bulldoze a whole hill or excavate an entire backyard then backfill/mound up with 100% perfect compost mix, I prob won't risk a bareroot+rootprune combo.
Another thing about her study, is that she is in Washington state. So I would be she is talking about dormant fruit trees like Cherries, Peaches, plums, ect, Which can take bare rooting just fine in the winter.
