Silly question really but some life needs injecting into this forum so I thought I'd ask this.

I was given a large plastic garden pot about a metre wide with two trees planted into the same container. These trees (I have no idea what they are; they have leaves and that's as far as my knowledge goes) have grown quite large. They are about two meters tall but have definitley outgrown the container as they are severley rootbound.

I couldn't find much info on seperating them so I removed them from their container so the soil and roots were exposed as a large circular lump. I tried seperating the roots but they were too badly matted and tangled.

So, in a probably retarded & half-assed way to resolve this issue I took a large saw and cut the rootball apart straight down the middle vertically between the two trunks. I now have two semi cirles each with a trunk. I potted them each in their own container.

Was this a stupid thing to do and what's the chance of them surviving? Will they grow or have I @@@@ed them up?

I don't expect many to know this but worth a shot.

Pictures would help.

They *can* survive, owever. Most important point is that their "wounds" won't get/become foul or become invested by bacteria, fungus etc. .

Too late for pictures. I did put them in fresh compost though so it will reduce chance of infection so hopefully they will be OK. In fact one of them has started to grow another branch in the last 2 days. They are fast growers.

I did a bit of research on the net and it looks like they are Ash trees.

Never heard of that name but thank you.

Here's some info http://www.british-trees.com/treeguide/ashes/nbnsys0000003949

Thank you.

Edit : Thanks to Wikipedia I found out that its name is "Esche" in German language.

Learned something new today.

In Dutch it's name is "Es"

Better plant such a big tree in open air, no ?

How big is your container ?

The containers I put them in are about 2ft in diameter. When they get too large I will either cut them back or give them to somebody to permanently plant them; I know a couple of friends & family who might want them. But, yes they do grow large and would not be suitable for planting near a house due to their massive roots. Thought about selling on ebay but with them being very common they are worthless.

My dad had a cedar tree given to him 20 years ago which was about 6 inch tall. It is now at least 50ft with a trunk about a foot wide. Just shows how big they can get in such a short time.

I don't have a garden, just a paved area so everything is in pots. The only things I bought were dwarf spruces that don't grow tall and are suited to containers. They should grow to a nice size to offer a bit of privacy without being too imposing. I had a lot of plants given to me when my stepmother moved in with my dad - I have only just got round to trying to identify what they are as gardening is kinda not my thing. These ash trees were some of the ones given to me. She said my yard needed sprucing up...

When I bought the house I wasn't bothered about buying nice plants to put outside mainly because I live on the outskirts of Bradford (a really crappy, crime ridden cess pit of a city) and it's highly probable somebody would steal them.

BTW if you google Bradford it sounds like a nice place to visit. Well the surrounding villages and countryside are nice; pretty much anything within a 3 mile radius of city centre isn't. Here's a funny link that accuratley describes what it's really like (don't click if you are easilly offended) http://www.chavtowns.co.uk/2010/06/bradford-where-do-i-start/

Aww thanks