I am going to make a separate thread for this tree to track it’s progress once we ID what cultivar of JM it is. There aren’t many, so it shouldn’t be too hard ?
Even after the rootball was “worked” with a hack saw, pick axe, sawsall, and metal stakes a month ago, it didn’t skip a beat! Buds are poppin’ and I am stoked to get this baby growing vigorously! Thanks for the help @MACH5!!!
Sounds like sphagnum could be a blessing during the hot summer months for some of us that work all day and can't be home to water all the time. I'll likely definitely make use on some of my trees this year.
By mid-July it grew like an absolute weed, so I arranged to have Sergio help me out again. I got members of my club together and made a day of it.
Before cutting off one leaf in each pair
We cut back, put a graft on the tree, and wired a few main branches.
In the spring, this tree will have the roots cut back again with a sawzall, and it will be potted in a grow box half as deep. It will also get another round of branch selection and wiring.