Has anyone tried Sepp Holzers method of shocking fruit trees?

*I've edited this so that people don't stop at reading my post instead of continuing to read jbreezy's post below to get the correct information...The initial info I was given was anecdotal and was aparently wrong*

I'd like to try it but I've only heard the very basic idea. It is aparently to cause the plant to focus on growing roots and not leaves or flowers.

Though I'd like to try it I'd be nervous about killing the tree, especially as they cost so much.

I've never done it, but he definitely covers the roots so the don't see the sun and it is the tops that dry up.  Roots cant handle sun and will shut down if they get exposed for a length of time.  Next summer I am going to give the technique a try.

I snot the story on the conference sepp holzer gave in America, the one paul wheaton attended and has published ,when sepp holzer talks of his disccoveries as a child, when he was planting a tree in spring and the adults said it was the wrong season but he went ahead and as he had taken some time planting the tree the leaves and flowers had dried and even so the tree took well and he decided that if you let the flowers and leaves die the plant concentrates on root development and so reacts well to planting and spring is a time of a lot of plant growth.  He does say you should cover up the roots if you are to use this way of planting. agri rose macaskie.

Do you know the specifics of how he covers the roots? Does he use something like a burlap bag? soil, if so is it moist or dry? And does he simply wait until the leaves drop and tehn plant?

He buys bare root trees off the season, placing on sun, covering roots with wet jute bags. Wet burlap bag would work, also wet leaves would work.
When leaves are dried and fall off he plant the trees.

Ich lege die Bäume auf die Erde, decke die Ballen zu und warte, bis die Blätter vertrocknet sind. Der Baum ist ein Lebewesen, er hat nur ein bestreben: Er will überleben. Ich setze ihn ein, ich gieße ihn nicht, ich dünge ihn nicht. Er findet sich selbst zurecht. Wenn ich ihn beim Pflanzen gieße, wasche ich die Nährstoffe aus. Der Boden öffnet sich, weil er denkt, es kommt Regen. Aber rundum ist es trocken, auch die Luft, und so geht der Stickstoff verloren. Ohne mein Eingreifen bleibt der Baum selbstständig. - Sepp Holzer about planting trees

My translation: "I lay the trees on the ground, cover the roots and wait till the leaves are dried up. The tree is a living being who has only one goal: He wants to survive. I plant him in, I don't water him, I don't manure/fertilize him. He cares for himself. When I water him after planting all the nutrients are washed out. The soil opens up because she thinks it is starting to rain but all around the tree it's dry. Even the air is dry. Therfore nitrogen is lost (by watering trees after planting). Without my interference the tree stays self-depending."

I tried to find the description sepp holzer gave to write it out here again and could not find it and here it is written out here, i am gratefull to go through it again, i had  not remembered all the bits of information he gave. rose.

  In england burlap is called sackcloth i think.
    Having lived in a damp country like england and a dry one like Spain were the potatoes start to lose their turgididty in a week or two, so it is better not to buy too many at a time unless you like cooking floppy potatoes but the bread never goes moldy, unless you keep it in plastic and can be used for crumbs a year, even years later while bread in england goes moldy and never dries out i could neveras a child understand about feeding people in dungeons on dry bread and water but in Spain i myself just eat up the dry bread if i have run out of fresh.  Where the compost dries out rapidly and all kitchen waste resembles bits of dry leather in a day or two while in England compost usually suffers from beign too wet, I would say that instructions about how long you have to keep something like a live tree damp for, should vary a lot according to the climate.
  ALso i am not sure it would be possible to keep a  bought tree alive without watering it through its first summer in spain. maybe if your swale system were good enough. agri rose macaskie.