First, I apologize if these questions have already been answered. I've been reading as many of the threads about Al's gritty mix as I can over the past couple weeks.

I have two 4 foot tall citrus trees that were recently purchased from a nursery. They are currently in 10 gallon pots. A Meyer Lemon and a Persian Lime. I am planning on transplanting them as soon as possible into half whiskey barrels filled with gritty mix. I haven't prepared the mix yet at this point, but I have all of the ingredients purchased and will be ready as soon as I feel like I've read enough and have the nerve to acutally transplant! :)

My questions are these. 1) I know the trees should be shaded from direct sun and blocked from wind for some time after transplanting to reduce shock. However, with the size and weight of the containers after the trees are in them, this seems nearly impossible. I was planning on preparing the mixture and transplanting the trees into the containers already situated in their final locations... which is sunny and sometimes windy. Is there an easy way to protect the newly transplanted trees without moving them?

2) I haven't been able to find many threads with photos showing the transplant process, so it's hard to imagine what it will be like to rinse off the soil that is around the roots at this point and then to get those roots into the mixture in the proper way. Does anyone know where a thread with these kinds of photos are? Or perhaps someone feels like explaning in a visual way how to best handle the roots of these trees during the transplant process... :)

This is my first time attempting to grow citrus trees and I really want them to succeed, so I thought I'd put these questions out there to see if any good advice comes back.

Thanks!!

-Kalie