Hi, Really enjoyed this thread!! I was wondering if anyone here could advise me with another young DR. As you can see here, at the top of my tree, the only true "leader", to the far left here, which dwarfs the other possibilities in both girth and height, is jutting off to the side at a substantial angle. It is growing a ton at its very top and is the tallest part of the tree by over a foot. My concern is how much of an angle it is growing at, & that it is not in the true center of the tree. (The bamboo stake is aligned to the center). (There is a lot of shade in the area where this is planted, though the tree catches some sun). Here you can see more of the whole picture...the angle in question is even more pronounced that comes through in the image. Should I just stake that thick leader to straighten it up? Would anyone recommend pruning something you can see in the first image? Should I just leave it alone? Thanks in advance for any thoughts!

dax, I didn't even catch your last comment, lol. The other half was heckling me a few weeks ago about the very same thing. Since posting the tree has put on more growth, not much, but none the less it put some on. Wow, I took this pic from the deck and it looks like a 4' tree. I measured it the other day and its 8' tall. I was mistaken about it being 6'.

It's about time GW has zones appearing after our names. I requested they add that as well as soil type a few years back but never heard back from them. Thanks coniflora. For my behalf I had either forgotten a grafted plant kept characteristics (probably slim margins in all cases though, I would have to think) ..easier. Anyway, that's maybe my favorite thing in the world to do. Grafting that is. Dax P.s. And Noki, you pick up the pace real quickly. Just like becoming a BMX racer! And other times, you do have to work with the wood until you're satisfied everything is a go. Some grafts take me 5 minutes each. Those darn ones with the tiny wood are difficult to hold onto as well and that's on top of just the finicky ones in general. Then there's the ones where your blade cuts right through the entire understock! that one tees me off. Then there's the a to the b to c to the d .... you're always adjusting to occomodate. It's a lot of common sense technique-wise it becomes apparent rather fast. And there are no rules if you would please allow me to say when you understand what it's going to take to get those two wounds to ajoin.

I am not the end all expert Indianagirl, but essentially yes. If I recall the recommendation was to take foot to eighteen inch hardwood cuttings about Christmas to make sure they are dormant. For best results cut at a 45 degree angle near a bud. Then I dampen the end so the hornone will stay on, apply the hornone. Stick it in some well draining potting mix and water occasionally. I've done this three times. My best results were putting about 6 cuttings in a pot and putting the pot in a semi-sun area. One seems to always take. Far as where I take cuttings from, I don't really have donor trees, just my yard trees so I take what I feel are less than prime cuttings. This means from branches which are crossing others, or from these interior sprouts which are pointed upwards. A real expert would have a higher success rate than I if recall back when I read instructions. There HAS TO BE more they do.