Sorry for the sideways pics. Phone was portrait and they were portrait when I saw on the computer screen then turned sideways when I uploaded them here. I will go back to the Test Forum and try to do better next time. As for size-there are others in our area that were planted near the same time and those trees are huge maybe not 25' but really really tall. The stakes are there trying to train branches to grow on the north side of the tree. It did work. I've tried the "just let it grow" method and this is what I've ended up with so taking DZITMOIDONC's queue I went ahead and pruned the thing. Figured it wasn't doing good thus far so anything would be better. Just as I suspected all the weight of the long whips were keeping the branches from growing up and out. After pruning of course they sprung up and the tree became 2 feet taller and 3' wider! I guess not the right time of year but I couldn't stand it. I'm going to use the thickest cuttings and plant another nearby. Again, wrong time of year but our weather should be beautiful for the next 3 months and hopefully it will work. I thought you were supposed to plant trees in the fall. ?? I truly appreciate all of the advice and comments.

I have 4 Sargent's in my garden and they are beautiful. But the one that gets the most sun ( 4 hours) look the best. The one that got the least (1 hour) was just OK and so I cut down a couple of poplars to provide more sun and it has responded. The photos above suggest that the plants get quite a bit of sun and so you need to factor in how much shade you have in your garden. Gary

Sorry to start a controversy, and sorry if I came across as belligerent. And sorry for calling you a 'tool bag' B-boy. Having said that, I will stand by my assertion that the 'advice' in question was worthless in light of the fact that I belive my question was, in essence, "what should I do with this weird Hemlock tree I bought on a whim?" And B-boy's answer was essentially "you should have bought something else and here is the method I reccomend for buying it...." But then again, he's right. And of course I knew that when I asked about this and even when I bought it. But I overreacted a little and he was a good sport about it. As for the junipers, sure the effect may be similar if you stake a prostrate juniper, but I know of no juniper that has foliage anything like a Hemlock. And I've seen a lot of juniper. I live in the Texas hill country and regard the native species as ugly, woody, invasive weeds. Even deer hate them for crying out loud. Some of the cultivated garden varities (of non-native junipers) are nice but here that is way too prosaic for me. In other words, everyone does that, and I'm way too cool to do what everyone else does. I followed that link and thought those pictures were great. Those are the types of conifers I think are cool. Of course those dont do as well here. Maybe its a matter of the "grass always being greener" somewhere else. Maybe some of you in cooler zones would like to have citrus trees, or tropical hibiscus in your yard. Me, Im moving to Oregon so I can have weird obscure conifers and 20 different japanese maples.

It's already lost visually over on the side against the fence like that (where it is going to hang over the fence into the neighbor's if left there) - find a place where you can feature it and give it enough room. It is hard to believe that there is such a huge difference in light exposure between where it is now (and immediate vicinity) that it would make a poor specimen if moved to somewhere else in the same setting. If it had been a dense little dwarf kind it would not have had comparatively long sweeping branches, had gotten as tall as it is already before purchase. Features that will be interfered with if you start snipping it back.