I realize there is SOME transplant shock happening ===>>>> that could be the understatement of the century ... lol .. water deeply.. and let them NEAR dry in between.. and live with the resulting shock .. future life is in the growth points.. and even if the shrub loses every leaf [not advised] .. if those points remain green and viable.. the shrub can make it ... but it aint gunna be pretty .. lol ... i dont understand what kind of TIMELINES you have.. that make planting in the wrong season imperative .... i dont understand.. why you couldnt hold your stock until about 9/1 .. it can be done as you are doing it.. its just that you and the plant are stressin' .... but i also understand ... ya gotta do.. what you gotta do .... if this is being done professionally.. then i presume you have warranties.. and you should follow the landscapers directions ... if you are doing it yourself.. i suggest that you move that timeline FOR PLANTING back about 6 weeks in z5 ... arent there other things that can be done within the plan ... that can be moved up to do now... that do NOT involve planting??? and then move back the planting of large stock .. from the worst 2 months of the year ... good luck ken ps: gardening is more of an ART.. rather than a science.. and forcing yourself into a 'process engineers' time table.. is the crux of your problem .. those hippie gardeners.. are more of.. 'oh whatever.. it will get done.. when it gets done' .. lol .. rather than step 27 part b, subsection 5 dictates planting of shrub #246 at 3:57 pm on 7/17/11 ... whats more important.. the plan.. or the plant??? pps: the difference is between .. what CAN be done.. and what SHOULD be done.. and what should be done.. is to transplant in the PROPER SEASON ... and then it becomes much more stress free .. for both you .. and the plants... ppps: new post if you want ideas how to hold over stock for a month or two ...

Thanks iforgot, I didnt mean to twist your words but i certainly will give more thought to my bonemeal use next time so thanks for the heads up. Yes I may just have to decide now if I want a multistemmed tree in place of what I was hoping for as a small decorative single trunk. Lucky, there appears to be so far atleast 4 to 5 pink nubs bursting from the trunk. I guess these could eventually make a small tree, meanwhile a small shrub. I wonder how much time it would take to make a small multistem tree, 20 years maybe. I have to say, I just assumed these where grafted, I never asked (bad me). They have what I thought was a typical grafted area on the bottom of the trunks but now that I really think about it perhaps that was removal of another main trunk since these are naturally multistem. Ya know I knew better than to try to fight mother nature, she always wins in the end as in this case it seems aswell. Thanks for all the replies and advice. Barb

m3, the appearance of the bad one is that of a plant with some type of nutrient deficiency. Now this is not the only reason a plant would present like this, but a soil examination of the area where the bad one is planted might be in order. Alternatively-and I rarely say this-a modest application of a balanced fertilizer might help. I'd also be interested in knowing the pH of the soil where the troubled plant is located. A too-high pH can lock out nutrients for some species of plants, although I've not personally seen serviceberry exhibit this problem in my area.

ken_adrian - It all came up organically when they were looking to replace some plants and wondered what we'd be planting. I am glad it is coming up now before it becomes an issue. I think it probably will be really crowded with that many of these trees, but we do want to get some sort of canopy for a little shade back there. I don't blame them for not wanting berries falling that stain and we share a lot so we are all very close together. edlincoln - Thanks for those tree suggestions, I'll do some more research on them. Also wondering if a birch might be a good choice. The plan was 4 trees of the same type, but long term it would seem better to diversify a little in case of disease, especially given the devastation of Emerald Ash Borer and Dutch Elm.