Bare root is an early spring thing only. Tree must be dormant. Keep your reading limited to this forum. too much garbage elsewhere on the web

The trees need to drop their leaves before they can be dug. So you aren't going to have much choice on date. November would likely be the earliest they'd be available and a good time to plant them. Seems like I've gotten them in late Nov or early Dec from ACN. Check with your supplier.

Bare root fruit trees are typically dug in the late fall after leaves fall, then stored through the winter and offered for sale in early spring.

The best practice would be to get them into the ground as soon as possible. And if you're not in the Arctic North, fall is a preferred planting time, as the trees can grow roots before spring and budding time.

That being said, they won't be available till they're dug...and if your ground is frozen (aka Arctic North), it's too late to plant them.

Not sure what farms would dig up trees and store over winter. That is a long time. How can they do that with dundreds of trees? It is fine to store for a week, not four months.

I think one week before freeze date would be good. There may be early freeze, but the ground is not solid freeze. That would be early December. So get the trees in late November.

The trees I have planted in fall have not survived. There is such a huge difference in dormancy levels from one spot to another that even a week further behind in dormancy can spell disaster. My advice would be to stick with spring planting. It's okay for a plant to be further behind in spring, but not in fall.

Sometimes nurseries in warmer climates have to ship quite early, but it's better to hold the trees in a garage for a few weeks than plant outside in the fall IMO.

They put them in cool (44 or lower) humidity controlled chambers, which probably also have a infrequent mister...and there they sit till they get shipped out.
With the cold and the humidity, all is well.

As to recommendations for fall planting, perhaps you'll agree Starks Brothers might know a thing or two...read their FAQ (the part about shipping)

Here is a link that might be useful: Starks FAQ

This post was edited by dbarron on Sat, Sep 13, 14 at 12:54

All the big northern nurseries dig in the fall and hold them until shipping in spring. I don't think anyone would try digging in late winter or spring. As dbarron states under proper storage conditions, low temperature and high humidity, they can be held all winter without issues.

Where the ground doesn't freeze deeply fall planting is a good option if you can get the trees.

I planted 7 bare root trees last Fall in November, and they all survived. It was a very cold winter (Zone 4 equivalent, or worse) and I am sorry only for not shoveling snow onto them, they would not have had any dieback.

On the other hand, in 2012 I had trees shipped from Burnt Ridge. It was a cold spring there and very warm here. By the time I got them, it was 80+ here, and some of them did not make it. One of the differences was that the Fall panted trees were all in a hugelkultur setting, the spring planted were planted in the same poor suburban soil with just some chips mulch on top..

If the trees were dug in the fall, why would the nurseries not sell or ship in the fall, and most of them wait until spring? I think a lot of the trees get shipping from March to May, so it would be a very long storage time.

With the delay in shipping, I'm thinking it is better to order trees from a colder place in the fall, and from a warmer place in the spring. This way, one week or so transit time would not affect things much.

Redsun:

The trees need to drop their leaves before being dug. By the time they sort and grade the trees it's too late to ship to many areas in fall. Either the ground is frozen or the trees could freeze during shipment. It's easier and cheaper to ship all the trees in spring when they are not as busy with other things.

They can't just pop a few out of the ground and ship the next day when they've still got thousands of trees that have to be dug and protected before freeze up.

Freezing during shipment has been the main restraint I've been given by nurseries in WA, OR, NY, and PA. I can plant all winter but those northern nurseries don't want to risk shipping me a few trees before March.

In Nov. 2012 a week or two before Thanksgiving I planted five trees and they are all still alive and kicking as of today with no problems! Three euro pears from Millers...Collette, Moonglow and Max-Red Bartlett. A hybrid plum and an asian-euro hybrid both from Stark Bros...Bubblegum plum and Maxie pear. Got my first and only Maxie this year.

Nov. has been much milder over the past number of years and less problematic than say March or Apr. so I prefer fall planting of bare root trees. And also I am in zone 6 and around 150 miles north of you.

This post was edited by ljkewlj on Sat, Sep 13, 14 at 15:23

So if times properly, it is still doable to plant trees in fall. Some nurseries are shipping in the fall, most of them are smaller ones.

The big ones probably prefer the safer spring shipping. Easy to manage too.

Redsun:

The trees need to drop their leaves before being dug. By the time they sort and grade the trees it's too late to ship to many areas in fall. Either the ground is frozen or the trees could freeze during shipment. It's easier and cheaper to ship all the trees in spring when they are not as busy with other things.

They can't just pop a few out of the ground and ship the next day when they've still got thousands of trees that have to be dug and protected before freeze up.

Freezing during shipment has been the main restraint I've been given by nurseries in WA, OR, NY, and PA. I can plant all winter but those northern nurseries don't want to risk shipping me a few trees before March.

I planted two bare root pie cherries and two bare root euro plums around Dec 1 last year in Ohio. I mulched around them quite a bit. All survived the brutal winter and did well this year.