Although there is an evergreen mutant of Lombardy poplar (Populus nigra 'Sempervirens'/a.k.a. 'Chile' -it is not in cultivation in the U.S. and the normal, deciduous form is found. Also, weeping cherry cultivars are all deciduous. So to answer your question, your trees did what is normal. They will leaf out in the spring. Perhaps you are confusing Mediterranean cypress (Cupressus semperivirens) with Lombard poplar. It has the same narrow growth habit, but is evergreen.

As the experts in this forum often point out, trees survive and thrive without or despite our interventions. When I see bald cypresses in established gardens, they appear to have straight trunks (although there is a weeping variety). So I don't worry about my young ones - they will probably straighten out in time. But if they don't, that's fine - they will look interesting. Lots of people spend big $$ on trees that curve, twist and weep - and look fantastic. Take a look at the garden below - it was designed by Dave who hangs out in the Conifer's Forum. Since bald cypress is a conifer, you may get answers there. Don't worry about criticism here - with a few exceptions, this is a very helpful place. Members are are patient with people who want to learn. We were all newbies once. Here is a link that might be useful: Dave's Newest Conifer Garden

I stumbled across this thread and read with interest. I have an @ 8 year in ground Peve Minaret Bald Cypress planted in wet clay soil here in PNW, south end of WA. We chose this tree because we fell in love with the soft ferny needles & the interesting bark. It has developed knees quite a distance from the trunk. Because I prune it to maintain size, it has a pretty interesting branch structure all winter. I was hesitant to prune but from research on the conifer society site I learned this tree is very amenable to pruning. The conifer garden in the Oregon Garden Resort in Silvedale, OR has a couple of Peve Minarets which are pruned and they’re gorgeous speciman trees. These are older pics from 2016 & 2020 - You can see from the 4 year size difference why I needed to prune. I believed the plant tag info of a 10’ mature height. Our moderate temps & wet winters make many plants far exceed their nursery tag growth descriptions!

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.