Thanks Don for sharing your insight and experience with me. I am prepared to prune like it is going out of style. My back yard is not very challenging to me right now with not much to do in it vegetatively. Even my garden I expanded this year had been very maintenance-free. I think I only pulled half a dozen weeds out since April. I've worked on creating a compact garden and a berry bed in the inside-side of the fence. My back yard is small and only extends about 24' back from the corner of the house. I fenced most of it in. I left some space on the outside of the east side where these trees are going. The soil is especially murderous on that side of the yard. I suspect when this house was constructed a little less than 3 years ago that the access road for the neighborhood construction was through that area. I notice contractor people here like to spread heaps of plentiful limestone rocks around construction sites for their machinery/keep mud down. It gets compacted and pressed down with that heavy equipment as houses are built. Then after a house is built it appears topsoil is added on top for sod, but it is never spread evenly. This explains why the west side of the yard is much easier to put shovel in than the east side. All my neighbors complain about their yards being the same way. Here's an example of what happened to all the rocks dug up in my back yard: I dug the final hole for that Mcintosh this evening and the soil was considerably easier to dig in. I had watered the spot where I wanted the tree a couple times this week and notice before doing that.. that the grass was more lush there. I can visually see where I will have a chore digging and where it will be relatively easy with not nearly as much shovel aerobics to pry out boulders and stones 'glued' into the ground. I hope these trees, as close as they are grow like wildfire because I want more privacy in my little yard. Notice in my picture the houses at the top of the picture... There's always people staring down at my wife and I from those balconies/roadway. We'd much rather they stare at fruit trees. I hope they grow 20' tall. ;) I will be sure to let you know how my Mcintosh grows (or dies). Last winter it was always colder on that side of the house. The path between the houses adjacent to mine act as a wind shaft to convect cold air along that area. Maybe that will be beneficial to the Mcintosh. Time will tell I guess. I will plant the Mcintosh probably tomorrow. I want to mix in some of that fertilized tree/shrub mix with our limely clay soil as I had for the two other trees. I could cram one more tree along the fence, but I have a white pine in the inside that should complete the blocked view (someday). I say I don't mind pruning now, but I may be saying different in 3-5 years eh? :)

I've tried uploading a picture of the part where the leaves are dead, but for some reason it keeps saying the files are too large. I even tried a couple of different pictures. Hopefully this is enough to tell if it is at least able to be saved. As far as watering, I have been holding my garden hose over it for around 5 minutes each day. It is hard to tell exactly how much it is pooling because of the mulch. I have been watering daily since I wrote the original post, and the tree has been looking about the same each day.

A Bing cherry tree growing in southern California will do reasonably well the first several years, just enough to get your hopes up. After that, it will start dwindling away, more & more each year. And will eventually look so sad you'll remove it. If you want a tree that will grow and produce cherries, ask at your nearest independent garden center which cherry will do well where you live. Several will. But only if you obtain the correct kind. Ask when it/they will be available. (In SoCal, bareroot tree fruits are generally available during Jan. & Feb; sometimes in Dec.) As for the flowering cherries and other trees that require substantial amounts of chill -- total hours between 32 and 45 during Dec, Jan & Feb, but subtracting all hours above 65F -- will grow but will bloom erratically & will leaf out erratically. So save yourself a lot of grief and grow "low-chill" fruit tree(s) suited to your region. The large garden centers know which ones they are. But you need to ask. One big problem: Just because a garden center in your region sells a specific fruit tree doesn't mean it will thrive there. Jean, who gardened in Long Beach, CA, for 30-some years.

Thanks, Al, for your answer. After sunset...? Well, I was kind of applying the reasoning that dictates we mow the lawn either in the early morning or the early evening and not at high noon. I suppose mowing the lawn and pruning blossom buds are best accomplished according to entirely different principles. Still, they both involve cutting...