Generally with trees and shrubs it is best to plant in existing soil and mulch afterward. Special amended beds are more useful to small plants like annual flowers and vegetables with tiny root systems and an genetic background involving popping up in recently disturbed soils with high organic and nutrient content. Your purpleleaf plum bushes are blooming from overwintering flower buds set the previous year. However with this particular type hard pruning each year right after flowering is recommended. In my climate it may be pretty much mandatory due to disease problems. Exclude your little garden helpers with effective fencing. Fertilize if a soil test indicates a need.

you guys are being way to fixated on the short life span idea ... i have seen lilac in front of centennial farms.. huge.. huge plants ... that i would bet have been there since the house was built ... that is a long life span ... anything less ... is short lived ... its that simple.. its not a book definition ... its just a gardeners expectation ... you could use the same logic for 300 year old oaks ... and trees that kinda poop out at 50 years ... 50 years being a shorter lifespan .....and in this case.. its more about when the tree gets so large.. so fast... it just starts shattering ... or some such ... as for age of cuttings ... as far as i am concerned.. if you start a babe.. its a babe ... if any of these things can be rooted ... many things can be ... heat mats.. misting gear .. greenhouses.. etc ... can a gardener do it.. sure anything possible ... but usually not probable .. but why not try ... both in the pix above.. have aggressive low growth ... i would cut them to about 6 inches ... and see what happens over the next 3 to 5 years ... maybe trying to reduce to one trunk ...but one thing for sure ... well two ... i would not look at either of those .. as is ... they would have been cut back a few years back ... and second... do not expect them to regenerate.. to the exact form they were before ... it will fail.. if that is your parameter ... but they should come back.. and be trainable into some nice form ... but if in a year or two ... you arent happy .. just get rid of them ... life too short.. to have your plants pissing you off .. lol ken

Yeah...I ripped mine out years ago, in a normal winter you're back to square one, I was getting sick of pruning back, unless greenhouse warm winters are here to stay? Not a sure thing. It's in the plum/prunus family like the western sandcherry...really a wrong name.

agree with above.... except for broken or damaged material .... i let trees and shrubs get established for a year or 3 .. before i start forcing my aesthetic on the plants ... every leaf is a food making machine.. so leave them attached to the plant.. for a year or two.. to feed the plant.. to grow the roots.. to get established ... imo fert is not a substitute .... in tree time ... shrub time.. whats your hurry??? ken