Pruning fruit trees is outside my experience so I have no comment on your first pic. The second one looks like you left a couple inches more than you needed to. I would prune closer to that next sprout. You don't have to prune back to the collar unless you don't want the branch. When planting trees or anything from pots, it is best to score the circling roots. I usually go a step further and tease out the roots so they come loose. This will help the plant establish a better root base. If you don't do this, 5 years from now, you may just be able to pull the plant right out of the ground because there isn't much holding it in. Lastly, when planting any tree, shrub, perennial, annual, plant it to a depth level with where the stem meets the potting soil. Any deeper and you could have problems. If you haven't done these things, I know it's a pain, but it would be best if you pulled the plant, fixed the issues, and then replanted. Also, if you're mulching over the top of the roots, don't add more than two inches of mulch and make sure it's not touching the base of the trunk. You don't want a 'mulch volcano'.

when you say score the circling roots do you mean score the dirt that is holding them in (so as to allow them to branch out) or do you mean physically score the root itself with a blade? I had held off on touching the root ball as what i read seemed to say the magnolia root ball is quite sensitive.

oman

except for removing damaged pieces.. i NEVER PRUNE A NEW TRANSPLANT ... period ...

leaves are food making machines.. and if you start cutting them off.. whats going to feed the roots to grow and get the plant established ...

your base problem here.. is the need for instant gratification ..

crikey.. its a tree... its going to give you 25 to 50 years...

how about we put away the pruners for a year or two ..

in the mean time.. the plant will start sorting itself out.. and your decisions on what to do.. will most likely... become easier ...

in the mean time... the peeps in the fruit forum.. prune trees very differently than we do ... for increased fruit production ... the cuts are the same... but the theory is different ... but you have a year or two to learn all that ...

patience young grasshopper ... now go put away the pruners ...

and dont expect a peach until it gets fully established.. in 2 to 3 years... if you are lucky ... it might come sooner.. but be surprised about it.. rather that that expectation game ... there is no instant gratification with trees ...

ken

I agree. Leave the trees alone for this year and allow them to get established w/o any more stress. Then prune again next year.

The Magnolia should be trimmed as an ornamental; prune back to a lateral branch that is at least 1/3 the size of the parent. That way it will take over apical dominance in the branch avoid the random shoots that appear after heading cuts.

Fruit trees are totally different. Peach trees need new growth and sunlight. Peaches should be pruned so that the center of the tree is open and the main branches (3-5) are separated radially (like spokes on a wheel). They can be heavily pruned in the winter to maintain (reachable) size.

so would you also say i shouldn't remove the magnolia root ball to separate out the roots? I do agree with you "let it regain strength" philosophy but i thought now was the time to take any measures given i'd just put it in.

I'll head to the fruit forum :)

The main concern with the root ball is that the roots weren't circling around the inside of the container. Once this happens, those roots can girdle other roots or the trunk. If you did not see circling or kinked roots, I would leave it. If you did, then yes, prune those roots out.

There is a new technique, that I hope gets adopted as industry standard, which will eliminate such problems with container trees.

I like Sequoiadendron's advice about fixing root issues. If the root system is poorly formed (circling/future-girdling roots), you need to address the issue ASAP! Teasing apart (gently separating without creating needless excessive damage) the rootball is the way to go. Slicing into the rootball ("mak(ing) four evenly spaced slices down the sides of the root ball") is what landscapers, that are in a hurry and don't want to invest the time to do things optimally, would do (OK, yes, I admit to having done this plenty of times). Ironically (because you found it on the Magnolia Society's website), most magnolias, with their coarse rope-like roots, are plants you'd least want to treat in this manner.

I disagree with some posters above that pruning ornamentals and pruning edible-fruit-producing trees requires a different set of skills. Yes, often the goals are different and certain pruning aspects rise to the forefront, but trees are trees. I frequently find ornamental that benefit from techniques most often associated with fruit tree pruning, and, the basics of fruit tree pruning are the same as those for ornamental. Some aspects of proper pruning lend themselves more to one type of tree or a certain situation, but it's not apples and......penguins.

I like Rhizo's thoughts on when to prune. Relatively minor pruning at planting is not necessarily a bad thing. Dead or diseased branches, seriously damaged branches, rubbing branches, branches with unacceptably narrow crotch angles, and co-dominant leaders can be removed right away. These kinds of things are likely to cause more problems if left. But, as others have mentioned, excessive/unnecessary pruning shouldn't be part of the planting process. NEVER prune a healthy tree to "ballance" the root-to-shoot ratio (a nutty popular gardening myth).

This link may give further useful info: Planting a Tree or Shrub