Originally Posted by jfecme

I have used my ordinary garden hose with a nozzle attached to "drive out" of teh ball as much loose material as possible, then start trying to identify where the spirals are going, unwinding and pulling them apart carefully with my rake and root hook. I alternate this process several times in an attempt to preserve as much of the fine roots as possible. Eventually I wind up with several long, contorted and large roots dangling from the trunk which makes it infinitely easier to identify where to make root cuts.

Be careful about the water pressure. When I first started using this method I found that loose material moving at high pressure with the water can completely remove soft tissue down to the cambium layer and further. So use moderate pressure, just enough to assist in untangling the mass.