Alexa, A local nursery handles all their b&b trees that have rootballs in clay exactly how you have handled this tree. That is, except for the fact that they usually do not get in such small b&b trees. Too bad your replacement tree was not shipped while it was still dormant. I have heard that beech trees do not like to be transplanted, so maybe that is why the supplier shipped yours leafed out with a rootball in clay, which keeps the roots disturbed as little as possible. For the size of your rootball, and the tree's height, two inches on the sides is enough for your well draining potting soil. Hopefully you put stones or broken pot pieces, or packing peanuts in the bottom four to five inches of your pot and then covered that with the potting soil prior to installing the tree and back filling the sides of the pot with potting soil. If not I would be a little concerned about mold setting up in in the bottom of yout tall pot. The nursery I mentioned which pots up their b&b trees like you potted yours uses a pot which is not much deeper than the root ball. I find it of concern that your pot is so deep. Am I wrong, though, was your tree's clay rootball nearly as deep as your pot with only a few inches left in the bottom for you to first fill with potting soil? Other than those concerns, I think keeping the new tree in full day, dappled shade is nearly perfect conditons for helping this new tree to prosper, until it is large enough for transplanting. At that time, you are going to transplant it just prior to it breaking dormancy, aren't you? Only other thing, Depending on if your pot-fill drains as well as a good quality potting soil, then you should pour 5 gallons of water through the pot at each watering session. If not the roots will not have enough moisture exposure to hold the moistness they need. A Nursery attendant has told me that the perfect way to kill a potted shrub or tree, is to water it daily, but run only a gallon or two of water through the pot each watering session. He said that the root ball need the time it takes to run five gallons of water through the pot, to be conditioned for absorbing the amount of water that the tree or shrub needs. Only thing with running that much water through your pot each time you water, it will wash away the ferilizer. So, you must instead use a slow-release, non-burning food that is appropriate for your tree's needs. If the tree could have been planted in the ground I would not suggest feeding it. But since it is in dappled shade, and in a pot which you must run five gallons of water through daily, I think it does need to be fed as I just described.

Hi MT! Oh, gosh, thanks for the compliment that I "seem to know so much". I want you to know that I am rolling on the floor laughing because EVERYTHING I know I have learned the hard way by doing everything wrong and then having to educate myself to correct my errors!!!! Of course, experience is the best teacher, but it can be a painful (and expensive) one. Anyway, if we'd had an internet with something like Garden Web when I started gardening as a young adult in the 1970s, I think the learning experience would have been a lot less painful. LOL I'll try to come up with some suggestions for shade, but I don't have a lot of experience with shade, as we built our home in an old cow pasture in between two wooded areas, so I have almost all sun, except for the shade of the one large pecan tree in the front yard. I do have lovely natural wooded areas on some of our acreage, but the copperheads and rattlesnakes enjoy them more in the warm weather than I do. First, when you say you have shade, I don't know what kind of shade. Heavy shade? Dappled shade? Shade all day? Most of the day? For the sake of making a list of shade-loving shrubs, I'll assume you have fairly heavy shade all day long. Some good shrubs for shade are: Abelia grandiflora, aka Glossy Abelia: This is a graceful, arching, spreading shrub that will become about as wide as it is tall. It can grow in full sun to part shade, but I don't know if it will flower well if it is in heavy shade. The leaves are fairly small. It flowers in late spring to early summer, and the flowers are small, sort of tubular and white to pink. The old standard form gets about 6' tall and 6' wide. There are smaller dwarf varieties, like "Sherwoodii" and "Compacta" which eventually get about three feet tall. A taller one (3' to 5' when mature) that has really pretty purple flowers is "Edward Goucher". Abelia is considered semi-evergreen to evergreen. Oakleaf Hydrangea (Hyndrangea quercifolia). Different from most hydrangeas, this one has leaves shaped like an oak leaf. It will get about 6' tall and will eventually spread out that wide. It has lovely fall color, which is a bonus. It blooms in early summer. There are many cultivars in different sizes. It isn't truly evergreen, but its foliage and flowers will stay on the plant until mid-winter. Oregon Grape Holly (Mahonia aquifolium): One of my favorites for shade. It gets from 3 to 6 feet tall, and 3 to 4 or 5 feet wide. It has beautiful bluish-green evergreen foliage. It has lovely yellow blooms in the spring, and the berries are bluish-black. It is really prickly, so don't plant it too close to paths or play areas. English Boxwood (Buxus sempervirens) does better in our climate than Japanese (littleleaf) Boxwood. It is just your standard, compact green foundation shrub that has little pest and disease problems. Sometimes in very cold winter the foliage will turn brown, though, so that's a negative. It does need very well drained soil as it will drown and die if it sits in waterlogged soil for any length of time. There are many cultivars of English Boxwood available. Kerria aka Japanese Kerria (Kerri Japonica) is a lovely flowering shrub for shady sites. It prefers shady sites with rich, humusy soil. This is one of those shrubs that grows in an arching manner, so it needs room to spread out. You can't prune it tightly like you could Boxwood, for example. It blooms in spring and early summer. And it is prone to foliar dieases, so it needs good air circulation. It is deciduous. Possumhaw Holly (Ilex decidua). I have these everywhere on my property, from full sun to full shade. When mature they can get to be the size of a small tree...15 to 20 feet tall and spreading 5 to 10 or 15' wide. It is deciduous but has lovely berries that stay on the plant until mid- to late-winter. I think it will grow in any soil. There are many named cultivars. One of the prettiest is "Warren's Red" or "Warren Red". It has gorgeous red berries and lots of them. There are some dwarf and compact cultivars that stay much smaller. The birds love the berries. Southern Wax Myrtle (Myrica cerifera). Another of my faves. There is a standard version and a dwarf version, which is Myrica pussilla. Wax myrtles are in the same family as bayberry and the foliage has an attractive aroma sort of like bayberry. The standard wax myrtles can be pruned and limbed up like trees, which is how I treat mine, and the dwarf ones will top out at about five feet, while the standard ones can go to 15 or 20 feet. They are fairly fast-growing. The foliage is a light green that is almost a yellowish-green. I had to look for quite a while before I found some of them at a Lowe's, as they are not easy to find. Viburnum (Viburnum species) There are many cultivars available in many different sizes. Some are tall, some are short. Some are evergreen, some are deciduous. I have the common native Rusty Blackhaw Viburnum. Many named cultivars are available commecially. Spirea (Spiraea species) These are fairly compact shrubs, reaching from 2' to 6' in height and from 2' to 4' or 5' in width, depending on which cultivar you plant. They bloom in late spring and early summer, and most have flowers in various shade of white, pink or red. They are deciduous. I have them in a place where they get early morning direct sun, and then dappled shade at mid-day and full shade from mid-afternoon on. They are easy to grow. There are many, many cultivars available. Yaupon Holly (Ilex vomitoria) Many cultivars of this evergreen shrub are available in many sizes. They will grow in almost any soil, and in everything from full sun to almost total shade. Mine get some afternoon shade. They bloom in early spring, and the berries are lovely. Some of the common ones you'll see in stores are "Stokes" which is a dwarf and "Pride of Houston" which is a tall, upright version. I don't know of any dwarf red oaks, but Shumard Oak is among the prettier oaks with red fall color. If you have heavy shade and good soil, there are a lot of red-leaved dwarf Japanese maples. You can plant dwarf crape myrtle anytime now, I would think. Hope this info helps. Dawn

Looks like may have root problem. Possible that it's too wet? Feel the growing mix to know for certain.

Becca, It's been shocked. If the limbs are green when nicked, it is alive. Keep it outside in as warm and sun drenched a spot that you have, and be patient. Any prediction of a possible frost and bring it inside, ASAP. You can get a freeze all the way to Memorial Day. Fig trees are very resilient though. The advanced buds probably got frozen. It only takes a short period of time at 32 degrees F. or colder to zap them dead. The more dormant buds should kick in very nicely, give it time. When it kicks in it will surprise you and take off. What variety is it? Moses