Where does the highest root come off the little fella? My bet is the "Y" used to be another leader and it died back or they pruned it.

I have planted tons of bare root trees with good luck.

Curious, where did it ship from that it is dormant now? My concern would be it dried out during shipping in the heat and lost its leaves.

Unless they were in cold storage, I'd be pretty pessimistic about survival. Those roots look pretty dry in that pic.

So the highest root is about where the blue line is, maybe a notch higher but I think where the line is. Given that, where should the cutoff between buried and not buried be?

Also, the 2nd tree I received looks like just this one in terms of the 'Y'. It seems odd that in both instances they would have cut off the 'main' tree and left a leader like they did, right? In other words, shouldn't they have left the straight leader and cut off the one branching out? Or does it not matter?

The roots do appear dried out, but the company said to do a scratch test and if green then it's ok and should come back to life, but if black/brown then it's dead. I did a scratch test at the green arrow and it was green underneath, so I hope I'm ok.

I think I threw out the shipping label so I'm not sure where it from, but here's what the company says:

"Keep in mind that many of our plants and trees are shipped in a dormant condition. Soak overnight in water before planting. In general, dormant items can be planted anytime your ground is not frozen. A late snow or frost will not harm a nursery stock item that is already dormant. On the other hand, these items can also be planted during warm weather--simply be sure to water well. Potted perennials can be planted outside anytime after your last frost until your ground has frozen solid for the winter."

Thanks again!

Plant your cutting so that the top root (your indicator line) is just below the soil surface.

The main leader may have been cut because the whip was too tall or it may have been damaged or whatever. In the long run, it doesn't matter. I would go ahead and chop of that stub so that the plant can heal over the wound.

You may find the link below helpful when planting trees and shrubs.

Here is a link that might be useful: Planting a Tree or Shrub