Attila

Hi Steve,

There is one thing I want to point out.
On the first picture, there are some low branches.
On the second, they are gone.

That's a big mistake. This tree needs to be shortened because the trunk is rather thin. In order to do that, you need the low branches, they could be the start of the future crown. They are worth their weight in gold.
You just discarded them, so now there is nothing to fall back on.

When buying nursery stock, you always want trees with as many low branches as possible. That's because you always need either trunk reduction or planting into ground (or growth-box) for thickening. In either case, those low branches are very important.

Just to keep this in mind next time when you are browsing in a nursery.

Regards,
Attila