From a botanical point of view how plants, especially trees, respond to damage is a fascinating subject for me. All plants have hormones directing growth and response to environmental situations. Plant breeders have capitalized on their understanding of this to develop better species varieties and to increase survivability and yields. There are five classical hormones, gibberellin, auxins, cytokinin, abscisic acid, and ethylene . Each of these groups of hormones is associated with specific plant traits and physiological responses.
How does this help you and me? It's not automatic but when a plant is damaged it's hormonal system kicks in a move to survive. When you prune a fruit tree you are stimulating production of these hormones which respond to replace the removed vegetation. When done properly, you end up with more of the structure that bears fruit. When you transplant a tree you inevitable leave behind a lot of root structure. Again, back in the ground, these hormones begin the process of healing by taking what energy remains to rebuild the critical root system. At the same time the vegetative structure demands that the root system supply it with the energy it needs to grow, flower, and make fruit. Cutting back the top growth reduces the demand allowing the survival response balance and time for repair
Here's the thing. Transplanting a tree should start with root pruning in two phases. It takes time, but the time you wait is probably returned because when the tree is replanted there's much less need for top pruning. It doesn't remove the need, but it can be reduced allowing a more rapid repair which takes less time until you see your desired result. Of course how much pruning and what to prune where is essential to all of it.
Sorta' something like that...
Whew! When you niggle in the details any doubts about the existence of God simply disappear!
