Hi, welcome to GoY, it will thrive better in the ground than in a pot, dig a hole about twice the size of the rootball, and twice as deep as the pot, mix in plenty of humousy material, ie, garden compost, well rotted manure, spent mushroom compost, anything you've got, fill in the hole to the required depth, if the tree needs staking, put the stake in at this stage, take it out of the potand examine the rootball, if the roots are going round and round, gently untangle them so that some roots are away from the rootball, and place in position, fill in the hole gently firming around the plant, give it a good watering in, puddling the water, let it drain, then do the same again, top up the soil if necessary, fasten the tree to the stake, you can give it a mulch at this stage if you wish, I don't usually bother, as my soil is fairly moist, most of the time, Derek.

Thanks Derekm for such a detailed answer. If I don't do it today, then I will dig the hole tomorrow. At my speed it will be a 2 day job anyway!