as i suspected.. a very large transplant.. that was not watered properly ... it is starving for water ... put the hose on drip.. and let it run for a few hours to water the entire root mass that was planted... the only caveat.. what is your base soil ... dig a hole elsewhere in the yard and find out... clay or sand... or something perfect in between???.... fill hole with water.. and time how long it takes to drain away ... also.. with a hand trowel... dig down into the root mass planted .. near the tree.. and find out how moist it is at 3 to 6 inches... the lush grass makes me suspect.. you have been watering the grass sufficiently.. but not the tree... its roots are a foot or two below the grass... which involves the deep watering i spoke of ... the tree has a survival instinct.. it is rebudding.. but what it ends up looking like... is left to fate ... we will be here for pruning advice.. in a year or two.. should you still be in this house... ken

Agree with John in putting the soil back over the small roots. Citrus are shallow rooted trees, so you definitely want to cover those small roots. What we usually do not do here is pile the soil up against the trunk higher than where the original soil line was in the pot (unless the soil was obviously too low). JR, here's how I plant my citrus trees in S. California. As long as you're not on clay, this should work for you. I dig a hole about 2 to 3 times as wide as the pot. I fill the hole up twice with water, letting it drain out. I then plant the tree so that the trunk will be at the level of the soil. If I see roots circling the pot, I try to gently loosen then, or if I have to, carefully trim them, so they grow straight out and not in a circle. I use a long-handled rake or shovel to be sure my tree doesn't get planted to deep or too high. I back fill with native soil - I do NOT amend my soil. I create a nice deep well around the drip line or a little ways out. I fill that well with a combination of chicken manure (not too much), and compost. It is also where I'll broadcast fertilizer in about a month. I then fill with about 3 to 4 inches of chopped wood mulch to help conserve water. I take care not to pile the chicken manure/compost or the mulch up against the tree trunk (although it does end up migrating towards the trunk if the wells get overfull, so I do try to move the mulch away from the trunks periodically). I deep water the tree, then place it on a drip. Every year I re-fill the well with compost/manure and re-mulch. This gives the tree just what it needs: Great nutrients percolating down to the feeder roots, just like Mother Nature would provide. John, with only about 5 to 10" of rainfall a year out here, we have to mulch our trees. The only issue I get now and then, are slugs and snails hiding out in the mulch, so I will wrap the trunk with a bit of copper tape, and sprinkle Sluggo in the wells. Rhizo is right on about the mulch, especially in areas like mine, where our soils are thin (I'm on just about pure DG, awesome great for drainage, not so great for micronutrients.) The compost/manure and the mulch make a big difference for me and all my plants, not just my citrus and avocados :-) Plus, everything looks very nice, and keeps the weeding down to a very bare minimum. Essential when you have an acre and no one to help you weed! And now, after a couple of years, I can reach down a few inches into the soil and see nice, rich black topsoil that is full of earthworms. Perfect way to grow any plant, especially citrus. Patty S.

Zands, I agree that its not necessary to "Pug" any or all mango trees. I think "pugging" is only suggested for people that want to try and grow their trees "short and wide" trying to achive a shorter trunk...as opposed to letting nature take its course and letting the tree grow naturally. Pugging is best for people that grow in pots/containers or if they have a small yard and want to maintain a more Dwarf tree for easy protection from freeze and if the trees are short...an added bonus is much easier to pick the fruits. If you notice Harry's tree, it has a much taller trunk than what a "pugged" tree would have. But, it is definitely not necessary to "pug" mango trees at all. They will branch out on their own regardless if you pugged it or not. Main difference is it will grow much taller and will reach its maximum height. I pug mine basically because I want to keep my trees small and short so its easier to take care of.

This plant grows such that leaves and branches are in opposite pairs and each pair will be 90* to the last pair on the branch. If you look at a cross section of the branch, you'll see that if pair A is one leaf on top of and the other below the branch, the next or previous pair will be one right - one left. You can make the plant grow vertically by pruning off all but one branch, then pruning that branch back to an upward facing bud and removing the downward facing bud in that pair. Then, the only way the plant CAN grow is up. When it starts to flop over again, prune back to another upward facing leaf. This will be a painfully slow process, so it's best to buy the (upright) species plant which is much more vigorous anyway. Al