Daniel -
If you want to grow trees like stumps in squat pots (Growing Grounds) then go there and see what he does (if a trip like that is within your means). We can discuss this until we turn blue in the face but it will really kick in if you can go in person and spend much time discussing and observing how it is done. Get down on hands and knees and crawl about looking at the work in ground in various stages of progress.
Another forum member and myself did something similar with Brent at Evergreen Gardenworks a few years ago and I gotta tell you it was a learning experience. We did this after discussing stuff on forums ad nauseam. What it took was for Brent to let us root prune a decent caliper tree and actually put it in the ground. To make sure we got it we repeated the action 100 times or so. It's pretty clear in my head now - at least Brent's style.
Attached is a sample or two.
If you want to grow trees like stumps in squat pots (Growing Grounds) then go there and see what he does (if a trip like that is within your means). We can discuss this until we turn blue in the face but it will really kick in if you can go in person and spend much time discussing and observing how it is done. Get down on hands and knees and crawl about looking at the work in ground in various stages of progress.
Another forum member and myself did something similar with Brent at Evergreen Gardenworks a few years ago and I gotta tell you it was a learning experience. We did this after discussing stuff on forums ad nauseam. What it took was for Brent to let us root prune a decent caliper tree and actually put it in the ground. To make sure we got it we repeated the action 100 times or so. It's pretty clear in my head now - at least Brent's style.
Attached is a sample or two.