I'm confused by the idea of not staking a tree in its first year. The tree is going to develop a strong trunk regardless. Which do you want--a strong straight trunk or a strong curved trunk? When growing wisteria to a standard, you have it staked and tied for years! I'll bet I have 30 trees around here which are staked. Some are only a year old--some are 5 years old. If the tree is in a location where it receives a lot of wind, you especially want to stake it. I've experimented with many things to tie up a tree and my favorite, so far, is lawnchair webbing. It's pretty gentle and doesn't rot, but whatever you end up using, be sure to keep an eye on it and retie as necessary so you don't girdle it. I'm not familiar with the tree you have so don't want to give you pruning advice for it. Maybe you can go to one of the agricultual colleges, such as OSU and do a search there for the proper pruning of your tree. Some nurseries have very good arborists--pose the pruning question to them. It's important to understand the standard for your tree so that you prune it according to how it should look. A good book on it might be wise,also. Knowing more about any tree or plant always yields better results in growing a good specimen.

It was my understanding that unless the tree is in some risk of being blown over, it's better not to stake, as the swaying of the tree in the wind, etc., stimulates it to grow stronger.

However, yes, I also want straight trunks/trees.

So, when thinking of a relatively young grafted tree, grown in a pot and tall and skinny (but not skinny enough to tip over, just to lean, as it was, for example, leaned against others in a nursery and so tends to lean out to where it got better light), is it likely to correct itself as it grows, allowed to sway considerably in the wind, or should it be staked to direct the growth to be straight?

And, when thinking of young, rapidly growing trees on which the soft new growth on the leader leans strongly, need it be staked to direct the growth upwards, or, again, will it correct itself in time, left to it's own devices, as the wood ripens and firms up?

Looking around in the woods, there are both straight saplings, and those that lean. On the side of my property (which is adjacent to woods) most of the trees lean over the lawn, where they get more sun, but others grow straight up.

Yeah, I hear ya on the leaners at the woods edge!! If you follow them over the course of years, you see they turn into poor specimens. I have that situation here as I'm surrounded by mature woods. Some of those leaners have come right out of the ground in a severe storm that came thru here a few years ago. I'm not in favor of leaving landscape plantings to their own devices. I have hundreds of trees and shrubs here and I tend to manage them so they grow into good specimens. My efforts have paid off over the years because the whole property looks like a walking park. Stake your tree--manage its growth and you will have a good tree.

I'm not at all a tree expert, but--what about tying the part that's bending to a stake that's fastened to the straight part of the trunk? In essence, staking the tree to itself?

One of our local nurserymen, who's on the Victory Garden (the blond British guy if you watch the show) says that staking to the ground isn't really necessary. So long as the plant isn't reaching for light. Ours have grown up nice and straight so far, and we're in a very windy spot.

I'm in favor of that method of staking also, and have done that with success. But I think ga's tree is in need of staking to a standard pounded in the ground.

>Would it be better to use a small stake that isn't in the ground, but attached >further down on the trunk?

I used this method on my 'Valley Forge' American elms, and think it worked very well.

Alex