QQ, I was pulling your leg - I wasn't offended so no need to apologize :-) You do make some valid points. I certainly can't speak to the knowledge base of nursery sales staff across the country and no doubt there are nurseries everywhere that have their share of less-than-well-informed employees. The nursery that is referred to in the original post of this thread is a case in point. One thing to consider is that to the customer, anyone working at a nursery is considered by them to be a "plant person" - this includes even the temporary seasonal staff, often high school kids hired to water, stock or run errands and load cars. And I can't tell you how many times I've encountered frustrated customers trying to ask plant questions of our Guatemalan production crew, who barely speak English. As to why don't more nursery employees participate on these forums, I can't answer that question. Maybe they don't care to admit to it, as iVillage does have restrictions regarding business interests and they think that revealing their occupation somehow violates this restriction. Or perhaps it is a time factor. Personally, I am a self-admitted plant geek and reading about, growing and discussing plants absorbs me more than it probably should. I am a bit obsessive about learning about plants and the forums are a constant learning experience for me as well as place to share the modest amount I do know. And the "We don't carry those. They don't grow here." statement is more relevant than you might think. Customers ask for the strangest things and at the oddest times of year (I had someone in looking for basil last week - last frost is not until early May). I might modify that to read "We don't carry those, they tend not to do well in our area", or won't survive the winter, or they're considered invasive or too disease-prone, etc., etc.

Katrina: You can find my posts about the fungicide by typing in the search box "liquid copper fungicide." But sometimes this can be difficult because only the overall topic that the posts are in comes up and you have to scroll through to find the posts about the topic you are searching. My posts are easier than some to find because I always end with "--Spruce." Anyway, I am more than happy to post again--this liquid copper fungicide treatment I recommend meets with a lot of skepticism, which in unfortunate, because I have been using it for more than 20 years now and it really, really works. I hate to see rot enter trees through wounds and large pruning cuts when it can easily be prevented. Anyway, enough of the sermon (for now!). Without a picture I am relying on your description of the cut at the top of this tree where you hope the new leader will take over. There should not be any stub that is more than an inch or so above where the new leader starts out. If there is, it should be cut back some. But an inch or so should be left above where the new leader starts to "stabilize" it--you don't want the new leader to be growing right at the rim of the main cut. If that happens it will be weak and liable to break. Also, the cut should be sloping away from the new leader somewhat. Maybe a 25 or 30 degree slope is enough--just what is best depends on the form of the new leader and the trunk where the cut has been made. If the slope is too much you create a larger wound unnecessarily. This slope of the cut serves two purposes--first it helps the water drain off, but perhaps more important it will allow the callus growth joining the new leader with the old main trunk to be stronger. OK, now you are ready for the fungicide. There were two brands I used over the years--the first, and the one I used the most, by Dragon, may no longer be available. The other I used was by Bonide. These were very similar with the exception that the Bonide brand had some kind of resin-like component that made the fungicide harder to use in a sprayer--the nozzle could become gummed up. But that is a minor problem and only a problem if you used a lot of it, which I did--at one time treating about 60 trees per year. And I did not always clean the sprayer after each days use. But now I use a paint brush except in rare cases when I canÂt reach the spot I need to treat. I use the brush now because it is easier to control the amount applied. These liquid copper fungicides may be a little hard to find in a garden center unless at really good ones with a broad range of products. You can also buy it on-line. I am not sure that any one brand is better than any other, but be sure it is "liquid copper fungicide." That will be the product name. You may find other fungicidal products that have copper in them, such as Bordeaux mixture, but these will probably not work. The key is the copper element has to be in a water soluble form. OK, now how should you apply it? First, you should wait about 4 to 6 months for the wood where the cut is has dried so it can absorb the fungicide. Then after a few dry days--no rain--mix the fungicide one part to maybe three parts water and then paint it on the cut. For the first application, give it a good coating like you would with paint. But give it just one coat--donÂt keep applying it as long as it soaks into the cracks in the wood--this is where there is a slight danger of doing some harm. And it is a slight danger, but if too much keeps soaking down into the trunk of the tree it can cause the inner part of the sapwood to die a little sooner than it normally would. At first I experimented with really large applications--I never killed anything with it, but I did notice some thinning of the sapwood as a result. A short time after you apply this, the blue/green color will fade and the wood will look normal. To be one the safe side, I would apply this again the next year, but this time and hereafter, apply lightly just so the surface is covered, and then a re-application maybe every other year will be enough. I have one red oak tree that I made a huge 13 inch cut on to remove a deformed semi-branch semi-second trunk, and after about 15 years now the wood on that cut is as fresh as the day I cut it. In a few more years it will be covered over with new wood and bark and I doubt any rot will be in this tree! And the tree will have a really nice shape. --Spruce

I did buy the Express II at Job Lot for $130, got weight bags on Freecycle (2 sidewalls as well), I just bungee the bags to the frame and set them on the (small) feet. It's pretty heavy (50 lb) for me, heck the bags are pretty heavy too esp. when wet but my almost-14 yo DS has been helping me at market and we're pretty good at getting it up, better at taking it down though we do need to "hug" it to slip the bag all the way down over the top. The lay it in the bed with feet sticking over tailgate to zip it up. Haven't had it out in heavy rain yet - was thinking about it today for family reunion, good thing I didn't bring it b/c 5 canopies (2 of them cheap ones like the 1 I lost last month) collapsed before we could get the covers off and get them folded, a Sierra II ended up on the roof of the shed. But the guys held a tarp over the pig and finished roasting. All of us who were outside helping with pig and canopies (no one was under them yet, people were still on porch and in kitchen) had to spend the entire time outside in wet clothes, have people bring us plates out (and take the pork in after the guys cut it in the shed). Glad to get home and get in some dry clothes.

Stuart, 511 or 521 likely behave similarly for tree's health. You can stay with 511 and surface dressing with a layer of mulch (I use pine barks, see pictures at the top of the thread), which will help to keep water from evaporating in hot and dry summer days. Whether you need to water daily or less, will depend upon the size of the container, and location, etc. When not sure, I always use the finger trick to check (stick finger into the soil deep ~ 1 inch. if moist, no water). Most people tend to over water containers, therefore good drainage becomes even more important. My mix is probably a variation of 511: The potting soil I used contain a blend of sphagnum peat moss, aged bark fines and perlite. I add equal part of pine or fir barks (~ 1/4" size) to the above mentioned potting soil. Sometimes I use soil conditioners (composed pine barks) instead of pine or fir barks in the mix Hope this helps