...or chop it off right above ground level and it will become something more akin to a shrub. Trees don't always have to have their "natural form". Sometimes we modify them (think bonsai or topiary) to meet what we want them to be. That can be an uphill climb, in some cases, but if it's what you want, it's what you want. You could always grow another cutting if you decide you want a tree somewhere else.

You guys got me thinking now about the re-seeding issue. I guess it's not the fact that peopple let them grow into a mature tree but the weeds per-say on the ground?? Otherwise doesn't every tree have seeds fall down?? Maybe I'll pot this thing and sell it in 3 years. I have a nice spot but neighbors might hate it. lol

The reason it was replanted at this time is because his friend is moving, and his friend dug it up from his yard for him. It was in perfect condition when it arrived here. The root ball was approx 1 ft in diameter. While I was helping him, my neighbor did express the concern that it had not been dug up carefully enough.... It was well watered, and mulched, immediately after transplanting. As for your remarks about soil moisture, I believe that he has not been very careful about this, and how he has watered it in respect to soil dryness or wetness. I will tell him to shade it immediately. Since it has been transplanted, it has been in bright sunlight for most of the day. Luckily the little guy is having a break from the sun today, as we are having a good soaking rain. Can a part of this plant be propagated, given it's unstable condition?

You did say you intended to"trim them as hedges", but with new info, let us proceed; You can roughly speaking maintain such a plant at such and such a height via pruning. But the reasons you cite for wishing to do so don't strike me as particularly compelling. Wind? If I've ever seen a hawthorn blown over by the wind, I surely don't recall it. These are simply not the kind of trees where that is a concern. I mean, anything can happen, but in this and most other areas of human endeavor, we look at probabilities. When I had a 90 ft. silver maple in my back yard, which tree's crown extended over the houses of the neighbors on both sides of our house....that was a concern for damage. A 15 ft. hawthorn having wind "ripping it out of the ground" just doesn't compute in my world.