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

big tree. doubt it will compartmentalize the wound before rot sets in. judging by how fast solid stumps rot in my yard i bet if you leave a foot tall stump and set a planter on it you have three years before bad rot is apparent above ground. if you like a tree in that spot perhaps have the bad trunk removed, plant another tree nearby. then if the good trunk shows signs of decline remove it and you have saved five years on the replacement process

All of the tree trimmers who gave me bids had "certified arborist" on their cards. I had the trees trimmed yesterday and both trees cabled to add strength. No cement was put in any tree. The price was fair and they cleaned up pretty well. The second man who bid this job was the only one who said he would take off a branch that overhung my neighbor's pond. The other two tried to talk me out of it because they didn't want to be in such a precarious position. I told them that the neighbor gave me permission to go into her yard if they needed to and they still tried to tell me I didn't really want that branch cut off. The nice thing is the fellow who was very willing to take down that limb over the pond had the lowest bid too. My trees now look like the trees in a park which is what I wanted. I am pleased and want to thank all of you who offered your advice and expertise. Tina

what is your plan with this thing.. will it be going on mother earth.. or remain potted forever??? as you can see here.. they are not small plants for pots: https://duckduckgo.com/?t=ffcm&q=Podocarpus+Gracilior&iax=images&ia=images the potential lifespan for this conifer.. is counted in decades ... i suspect you have some instant gratification issues with wanting to prune it.. to shape it ... whats the hurry ... lets figure out why it lost its leaves previously ... how you can do better ... and lets leave the pruning shears in the house for a year or two ... and best of all ... lets figure out how to plant it in mother earth.. or how to properly get you set up with it living in a pot long term ... more facts please ken