Hi, Scott, et al, In a different forum/thread, I posted the same question: i.e. do 4 saplings growing close form a single trunk of a solid single core or multiple cores, and 'Brandon6b' replied that, if this did happen, the core/tree-formed may rot. I hope this isn't the case: my reply..... That is very disappointing: that the rot will occur and sometimes will be the cause of premature tree death. In nature, I've seen enormous threes that seem to survive this natural arrangement, or maybe I'm not interpreting the observation correctly: there are 4+ large trunks that are growing so closely that, for the first few feet, the run in parallel contact with one another; maybe they are not 4 separate trees (of the same species and size) but 4 separate suckers coming from the same root system. Maybe a way out of this issue is to get this to happen early on: to arrange the 4 saplings (that are of 1" diameters or so) only 2" apart from each other; to me, it would seem that this would have to cause a single solid tree trunk of the 4. I hope I can figure this out soon, because the saplings are on their way in the mail and are bare root. Thanks, Steve

THANK YOU Brandon for an answer to the pruning question!!!! Will be sure to keep the cuts above ground level!! And to clarify what you and Ken are saying about a view to the utility boxes- ...actually, forget it... I just typed out a huge long explanation that I just deleted...lol ...in short (or @ least shortER) with the height of our deck and where our seating is located, the size of the smokebush, and my intentions (clearly understood at least in my own head- haha) don't worry guys, I'll be fine. I always envisioned a multi-stemmed tree, which would still hide the view of the utility boxes. ...don't think I will end up trying to do tree-form after all but do plan on pruning off many shoots and thin the boy down! as always, i appreciate the input from you all :)

Ramblings. Usually when you prune a large bush in to a small tree you don't shorten it by a third. Some plants lend themselves to this treatment better than others. Yours have multiple stems which makes it quite difficult to do at this stage of the game and have them look decent. They will sprout a lot from the base next Spring detracting from the 'tree look'. They're going to look butchered all winter long if you prune them now the way you want. I would give them a light shearing if at all. Who said you should wait until March? Maybe their reasoning was the butcher job won't look bad as long, because of the new growth sprouting then. I have the feeling you are going to do what you want to do no matter what we say. It's safe to do now, but as Dan Staley said, you are putting yourself up for a lot of continuing work over the years to maintain and a whack job all winter. Go for it and show us what you come up with.

I'll have to find the source, but I remember reading the ideal fruiting zone of a tree is 5-6 feet in height. Meaning if you want an eight foot trunk on your tree, the fruit zone will be from 8-13/14 feet. One of my in ground trees is about 14 feet tall now. It is not so easy to harvest the fruit from the top, however this is mostly due to it being in bush form and having to work around the lower branches. I use a small step stool and pull the branches down to harvest. One can prune to shorten the fruit zone to a couple of feet resulting in decreased production. Elder, someone post pics of fig trees which grew from suckers and formed a hedge along the side of a highway in Sacramento(I think) in this forum. Perhaps someone remembers the link to the pics. ~james