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

Click here this thread should answer the question.

do understand.. nothing will be drought resistant for the first few years.. depending on size planted .. also.. keep in mind.. something that creates GOOD SHADE ... might EVENTUALLY limit what you can grow under it .... but that would probably be many years down the road ... a pic of the area.. might get some better ideas .... ken https://sites.google.com/site/tnarboretum/Home/planting-a-tree-or-shrub

Generally speaking, without closeup picture of the leaves, buds, bark and flowers, we can still most likely presume this is some kind of plum or cherry trees. These belong to the Rosaceae family of which there are 4,828 species in 91 genera, including apples. So, if those trees are the source of the problem, you'll have quite a time protecting him/her from this type of allergen because these are ubiquitous. (There is a 'Name that Plant Forum' on these boards). Have you seen the pup eating or chewing on plant materiel or anything else that might upset his stomach? Many kinds of plants can have a mildly to modest toxicity if taken internally and if they eat grass, they can vomit from that. It might be best to keep the pup out of the yard during pollination time, but sorry, I am not a veterinarian and have no idea if pollens from these trees can cause any of the symptoms you describe.