I cut of any broken root bits, but usualy keep all the root as intact as possible. My experience has been the only real advantage of pruning roots is to prevent them from getting bend every which way if the pot or planting hole is to small. I just get a large enough pot or dig a bit deeper or winder. Roots happily spread downwards and horisontally, but doesn't like being bent upwards. Keep bareroots moist and it helps to protected against direct sunlight for a while, until they get leafed out.

You have gotten a lot of advice here, some of which may seem a bit contradictory, so I am not surprized that you don't have a clear idea of what to do. First, let me say that as I have read this thread I have not jumped in because what I have seen here has generally been good advice. But I see now that you need a referee or something, so I will try to help. One of the problems is that all trees are a little different. Not only is the degree of root "congestion" in the pot different, but different kinds of trees respond differently to different treatments. But I can't see--and feel, etc.--the roots you are dealing with, and I am not familiar with all the different species of trees and how they may react to different treatments. But let me give some general advice that will help you. First, if you do any of the things recommended, it will be either good or OK. Slitting the rootball in thirds will keep any of the encircling roots from strangling some of the roots later. But undergropund roots generally don't strangle the tree--roots generally graft over themselves. The real danger is a root that encircles the base of the trunk (girdling root). These must be removed. But better than slitting the root ball is as much as possible to "tease out" some of the encircling roots so they can be extended a bit. But often the root ball is so tight with the roots crossing each other, both in and then outside, that this is virtually impossible. In this case slitting the ball in three places is about all you can do. If you can tease out/unwind some of the roots (and you can both do this and cut some larger/longer encircling roots) you will need a big hole to allow them to spread out a bit. But some of the roots you are able to tease out/unwind may be very, very long. In that case it may be beST to shorten them a bit, or a lot, because if you don't, they will still encircle the root system or make a tangle. But if that happens, it is not really fatal. Sometimes with some kinds of trees in pots the root ball just seems like a dense fibrous mass. It is hard to find individual roots to tease out/unwind. In that case three slits and then some roughing up of the root mass to loosen it a bit is about all you can do. If you do any of the things recommended here, you will be doing more than most people do when they plant these root bound trees. Have confidence and go ahead and do the best you can--use your common sense. A lot of this will be intuitive as you start working with these root balls. Just see what you can do to undo some of the tangle, one way or the other. But one warning--these root bound trees will need more watering for maybe up to three years than a tree not so root bound. The roots will need time to get into the native soil--water that gets to the root mass that was originally in the pot will not last more than a day or two in hot weather. The more roots you can unwind/tease out and get into the native soil, the more drought resistance the tree will have. --Spruce

The roots get trimmed before transplanting so that they will regrow properly in all directions. The plant becomes more stable in the soil and can soak up more nutrients and water better. If the roots are left intact when transplanting, they will often be bunched up in the soil and the plant usually will not grow nearly as well and the bulb can rise out of the soil with heavy rain.

Elevating root balls above the surface can be tricky. Especially if the raised root ball will act like a wick. It will do this especially if there is a difference between the porosity of the nursery soil and the new soil. Raised root balls are usually only indictated for plants that are susceptible to crown rot (like citrus). The benefit of which is lost by adding a layer of mulch (recommended). Figs are not susceptible. Here is what the Texas Aggies recommend: http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/extension/homefruit/fig/fig.html . Good luck!