CScott

Location of the dig and location your bonsai bench is key to the treatment of a tree post dig. The California Valley has about 0% humidity and would be instant death to a tree relocated from the nearby mountains unless the tree is shaded. It wouldn't be a big deal if the tree stayed in the same zone.

As to balancing the foliage and roots. Since you almost always cut short a number of roots when digging out the tree I see no problem with cutting back some of the longer branches at the digging site. How on earth would the thing fit in the back of my Subaru otherwise? I have found the most important thing I can do to up the survival % of collected trees is to keep the roots of the collected tree wet. I immerse the rootball in a tub of water for the drive home. It seems to have made a difference.

Carmen