I got another, a month ago, the opposite sex, that somehow transplanted without issue (in a drought, over roots, etc. ) and is so much bigger (more wind protection). It looks so different than the first, leaves different, of course still the unhealthy yellow green from the pot culture..th

e few fruits it had were tiny dried up things, but I was told it was a bad year for fruit. I pray I have the same varieties, and one isn't chinese and one virginia. I haven't played around with it's roots AS MUCH yet, it will come.

Fringe tree number one, my "joke" that cost $85, I know it was in a large pot, It's roots appear healthy and untangled.. Stupid me planted it on too big a mound and it looks ridiculous now.. If I tried to transplant it down closer to ground when dormant, do I risk killing it? They, and river birch, and paperbark maple, have been difficult for me... to get going...

As for the container industry and the potbound roots, it's a crime... potbound doesn't even cut it..

Amy

As for the virginiana vs. chinense, what did the labels say?

I would not attempt to replant a tree that has struggled at this point in the year. Make sure you keep it well watered right up to the onset of hard freezes.

The vast majority of nursery stock today is containerized. The great weight and much more expensive labor and shipping costs of balled and burlapped plants has severely limited that option for most growers. Encircling roots and pot bound plants are realities, but, by and large, properly treated and planted container plants establish more easily over more of the year than the old b&b or bare root stock. The prevelance of poorly cared for plants, especially at the big box stores, is much more of a "crime" than anything perpetrated by the container industry.