It depends on in which type of soil the tree was growing. I don't collect them if they grow in any kind of loose soil (decomposed granite or good soil). Roots are too long. The best change is in places with some kind of hard rocks. I think you can get good root balls for single-leaf pinyon in Utah. There are areas with really hard rocks that provides the same environment as collecting Ponderosa in the Rockies. The main issue is that Pinyons don't have too many feeder roots in the wild and they are very brittle so hard to pack and transport.
During the winter I keep the trees in a hot bed (if the tree has few roots). If the tree came from a place with really hard rocks, normally, it comes with intact rootball and I don't do any additional protection.
The first 2 pictures are from a tree from a very hard rock area. It is already pushing like nothing happened.
The last 2 pictures is with another area where the rocks were softer. The last picture shows some dark areas in the roots. Those are feeders. You need at least some, if you don't get at least like 10-20% of those feeders, the chances are very low.
During the winter I keep the trees in a hot bed (if the tree has few roots). If the tree came from a place with really hard rocks, normally, it comes with intact rootball and I don't do any additional protection.
The first 2 pictures are from a tree from a very hard rock area. It is already pushing like nothing happened.
The last 2 pictures is with another area where the rocks were softer. The last picture shows some dark areas in the roots. Those are feeders. You need at least some, if you don't get at least like 10-20% of those feeders, the chances are very low.