Ohiofem: Thank you for your response. I appreciate the information. I have kept a pretty close eye on it and there are no pests. I have been watering regularly for the last week but as I mentioned in my first post it was clear that there were issues within the first 24hrs. I wasn't sure whether to treat this like I would like other repots and keep it partially shaded. Perhaps it was a poor choice but I opted to take it into full light. Josh: I realize that the gritty mix is effectively nutritionally bare but I had decided not to fertilize immediately after the repot in order to give the boug some recovery time. Now - two weeks on and bare of leaves - it probably would not be a good idea to give any nitrogen. Do you think a transplant fertilizer at this point would be helpful? What you've described with regards to the drainage layer is precisely what I've encountered. I repotted a ficus about 5 days ago and it also is drying unevenly. Considering that the ficus was healthy and its roots were minimally disturbed I opted to pull it and repot it sans pumice drainage layer. We'll see how it fares. Thanks again for your response. Al (tapla): Thanks for the information. I will try the wedge technique in the future. Just a couple of questions: 1) Is the Wedge technique for root reduction solely, or do you use this graduated approach for removing old soil as well (i.e. do you always bare root directly or do you go in segments when dealing with fibrous root systems)? 2) Regarding Watering: my Ficus has a relatively flat root system. The surface is drying quickly and the bottom of the pot stays moist. I am hoping that the removal of the drainage layer will help. When you are dealing with a shallow root system after repot you water more frequently, but does that mean you water less deeply (i.e. to avoid contributing to the slower draining soil at the base of the pot)? Thanks again to everyone who has responded so far. Regards, - JW

It sounds like you've done a good job of researching and tried to correct some of your mistakes. We all do things we shouldn't when we first start out (and even later when we THINK we know what to do). I did the same thing you did on my first rose - planted it first and then read about what I should have done....The fresh manure is not a good thing. If applied too thickly it can burn the roots. Make sure that you keep your rose well watered, but not too much water until your rose leafs out more fully. Clay soil retains water so don't drown your rose until the rose develops roots and foliage that will actually need that water. Try and keep the wind away from the tender new growth until it develops a root system. A wind screen can help. Usually roots and leaves develop together, but when the bareroot has been feeding on itself in the bag(instead of the nutrients in the soil), the growth will be even more susceptible to drying out. I can't tell you if your rose will survive. They can be really tough some times. In my case on my first rose I got so worried I ended up digging it back up and doing it right. That rose then lasted a good 22 years. Good luck btw.....Maryl

Newgen: I've done dozens of bareroots and had good luck for the most part, with only some losing quite a bit of foliage (none lost *all*). But it seems bad luck has hit me this year as I'm 0 for 3 on gritty mix bareroots (all 3 have lost significant foliage). It's depressing and frustrating. However, the worst loser of the bunch has already re-grown quite a bit of the foliage, which is an excellent sign if yours is already doing so a few weeks afterward. I was *sure* I had done well with that worst loser and thought it wouldn't even notice I had bare-rooted 'er. I was wrong. I decided to build some 511 and just refresh the outer few inches of the additional trees targeted for gritty. I'll just wait until Spring to do them -- now THEY didn't miss a beat when I did not bare root and put into 511. I do the majority of the work underwater and/or late at night and sometimes things still go wrong. After repot I relocate to spots only receiving direct morning light with the container itself always protected from direct light. Here in our climate, even 11am direct sunlight is harsh on a recovering citrus when ambient is already 90F by then. If I don't do used these methods, my experience has shown the tree struggling immediately afterward. But again, I've never totally lost one on a bare-root for gritty mix. I've only lost one when I tried to do root pruning simultaneously and another that had root loss from winter freezing. Just a general note to anyone else who may also have struggling citrus after bare-root into gritty: Be sure not to over-fert and especially excess Nitrogen can force the tree to regrow lots of foliage it cannot support -- it will then drop those same leaves and take some of the limbs, too. Just small amounts until a few weeks have passed and you know it's in the clear (no signs of stress). If there is lots of immediate loss, then again stay with a bit lower than normal N until it stops with the loss and settles or even puts out it's first leaf. I'm thinking closer to a 1-1-1 ratio vs. a 3-1-2 or 5-1-3 for normal healthy conditions. Good luck! Chris

I have quite a few "rabbit circles" that I made out of two fencing materials bought at Tractor Supply. Both are green-vinyl-coated material. One is 24" wide, with a grid size 2x3. The other is chicken wire. For lilies I make a circle that is 24" tall of the 2x3 grid, and then attach chicken wire to the bottom 10-12". For roses I cut the 24" material down the middle to make pieces that will give me circles of a 12" height, and the chicken wire is affixed to the entire 12" height of those circles. Regardless of height, I cut off the end piece of wire so the bottom of the circle is wire "pokers" that go into the soil. I had made quite a number of these circles years ago, back when chewed-off rose canes would litter the ground in the spring. More recently, the people behind me got a cat who patrols my yard for hours every day, and I never see rabbits or chipmunks anymore. Just this week I bought a pack of cup hooks so I can store my rabbit circles on the ceiling of the garage above my overhead door. (I may leave circles around the lilies, especially in the rear of my 20-foot deep border. Also I am thinking perhaps I could use the circles as part of winter protection around roses.)