SO, is it the shade or the hitting of i.e. another tree that makes it grow upward? The tree is going to reach toward the light, wherever the light is. Dense trees will inhibit it, yes. Id like to see pics of the over 40 year Dogwoods kept in check, foxearth. You can see that the foliage on the left side of the tree is wider than the right, which is inhibited by a large juniper (Eastern Red Cedar) to the south of it. The dogwood that I haven't a photo of was inhibited by the presence of a nearby pecan and an evergreen oak and nibbled by cattle on the fence side, so it is not a specimen tree, misshapen and spindly. Limbs reach out to the light, and little sassafrases have come up around it. What if I surround the Dogwood on only TWO out of all four sides with trees - will it grow in very wide as a wedge filling in the two open sides, or will the tree remain uniformly in check keeping only as wide as the two obstructed sides (as per trees) keep it? It will grow toward the light. The sides that are not obstructed reach to the light, is my observation here. Trees on two sides generally result in more vigorous growth on the open sides. Growth will also vary with the position of the sun and the density of the trees. If there are trees on two sides and a tall building shading a third side, that will affect growth as well. The size of my trees is irrelevant because of the difference in climate, soil and growing conditions. My young dogwoods of the same age vary in height by several feet, given different siting conditions. Think about the natural growth of a forest. Dogwoods are lovely understory trees, growing with layered limbs in light high shade and adapting to the site. Planted out in the open, they grow more upright and symmetrical. Nell

When you have a healthy tree, it opens avenues you couldn't have otherwise traveled, so 'way to go'! Now is the best time for repotting if needed, and subsequently pruning - after the plant shows new growth as its evidence it's sufficiently recovery after the root work. You only want your tree to have one head. Right now, it has 2 or 3. The apex will be determined by the potting angle (of the trunk) and an imaginary vertical line from where the trunk exits the soil. The apex eventually should be near to straight above the point where the trunk exits the soil. Start your pruning by correcting any problem branches - those growing straight up, down, or back toward the center of the plant. Correct crossing branches by retaining the crossing component that best compliments the plants outline & eliminating branches that don't compliment it. Then, determine your apex./ That should be the tallest part of the plant. Other branches should be pruned back to a branch growing horizontal or slanting slightly downward on the lower part of the tree, and horizontal to slightly upward on the middle part of the tree, to slightly upward on the upper part of the tree. On the 'B' side, what you have circled should be removed by pruning it back to the lowest horizontal branch that is lowest on the trunk and moves left in the picture. There are actually 2 pruning opportunities for the 'B' foliage mass. Pick the one that looks the best. You should be mainly concerned with making sacrifices in appearance now that promise the best potential for tomorrow's appearance. In picture 5, the low branch moving right - the heavy nearly horizontal branch in the background should be removed back to where it joins with the smaller branch (about where it crosses the flutes in the door trim in the background. After that, you'll look for other pruning opportunities in the branches above that leave you with branches oriented as close to horizontal as possible. Roughly, you'll be trying to establish a triangular shaped profile, using the horizontal branches, and with the apex of the triangle as close as possible to directly above where the plant exits the soil. You can cut off a LOT right now ..... and that will really make the tree back-bud, which in turn will provide you with more and finer pruning opportunities that will REALLY help you get to the point you're working on FINE refinement instead of establishing rough structure. You really do have a tree with lots of potential to be a very attractive specimen. Where do you live? Al

are you done moving it ?? lol .... listen .. NO PRUNING for two years ... let it settle in.. water it properly .... and let it do its own thing ... we can work on structure later ... think of the leaves as food making machines ... converting sunshine into plant food [as compared to fertilizer] .... and for now.. we need every leaf it will make ... also.. firmly grasp.. when this thing is 10 feet tall ... all of those branches will have been removed anyway ... other than some manhandling.. and we have all been there.. done that ... your only real problems is you quest for instant gratification .... so relax ... water properly .. and grow the roots .. and a beautiful tree will follow.. IN TREE YEARS ... not in tonk years ... do NOT fert it .... good luck ken

Katrina: The fact that you are seeing some infection in this old pruning cut is not a good thing. Also, what you are seeing I would guess is a fungal fruiting body, and it is my understanding that these do not develop unless the fungus is well established. BUT, BUT, BUT, there are many kinds of fungus that can infect pruning cuts, and some of these grow smaller than others and put out fruiting bodies very quickly. So, this infection may not be deep. Also, fungal infections sometimes develop in old pruning cuts and do not progress into the wood of the trunk of the tree--after the callus closes the wound they die or do not progress any further. O'Hara briefly notes some research findings in his article about this. I can report one experience I had with a very large and tall tuliptree that was in my yard where I used to live. This was a tree well over 100 feet tall and about 2 1/2 feet in diameter. I noticed a place about 25 feet up where a large old branch had broken off many years before and it had an incomplete covering with callus. Because I was in a neighborhood with houses close together, I was afraid and the risk of huge damage if this tree was blown over or broken with the wind, I did not really trust any arborists opinion--what if he was wrong? People could be killed, a house destroyed. So I had the tree taken down. As it turned out, the tree was still surprisingly sound and did not at that time have a great risk of breaking at that point. That does not say that some problem could have progressed in the future, but the tree was, after all, basically OK. My recommendation. If you can get up on a ladder and do a close inspection of this yourself (assuming you can do this securely, poke into the area and see what kind of softening of the wood has occurred. If there is a fungal fruiting body that you can collect and put in a jar, do that--it can be identified. And it may not be too late to treat the area with copper fungicide as I have been recommending. If the wood still seems fairly sound--not turned to some kind of soft mass, I would say it may not be too late. And for a first treatment on an area like this I would paint it twice so you get a good "soak in." If the callus later closes the wound the copper fungicide that will at that point be under the callus may have some effect on stopping or reducing the infection. If you want to hire an arborist that may be a good idea. But I am not sure how much training they have in identifying specific species of fungal rot pathogens, and I am not sure that methods they have to determine the exact extent of a fungal infection. Maybe some arborist can give me some information here in this forum about this. In any case, I would examine the area carefully yourself so you will know exactly what the arborist is talking about and you can decide if it makes sense based on your own observations. And you will know what kinds of questions you can ask. Anyway, to sum up, I think there is a good chance your tree will be OK. --Spruce