It won't cause any significant weak spot WSPENCER in the future. The tree is pencil sized now, in a couple of years it won't make any difference if it works. Personally I've always wrapped with seran wrap before using duct tape since it would keep the area moist longer, and the duct tape then holds and shades the wound. And you shouldn't have to wait until autumn to remove the tape early summer will be fine. Just keep the wound shaded and remove any overly vigourous growth to keep the weight down. Being that the tree is young it would still be best for you to remove the leader completely, a new vigourous one will likely form and you won't have to worry with the weight issue. If it was grown for an extended period in a pot as you said, I hope that you sliced the root ball vertically a few times before planting it correct?

I can't speak for GA, but they are very slow growing around here. Personally I'd plant them 12' apart...if you want space between them when they mature (many, many years down the road), then go 17' apart. They are quite adaptable. They are more suseptible to borers in drier conditions...but still adapt. Nice that you have 3...odds are you have at least one male and one female. Males have showier flowers, females have the blue fruit. Also keep in mind that these trees leaf out later than most.

Planted one here, as a small 1-2 yr seedling. Took close to 10 yrs to begin flowering. Worth the wait. Gets more spectacular every year. Now 15 yrs old, probably 8 ft tall, 12+ ft wide. Have since planted a couple of C.retusus I grew from seed sent by another GW forum participant - can't wait to see how they look in bloom when they get old enough. Great apricot fall color on the Chinese seedlings, by the way.

Quick-and-dirty definitions for those interested: androdioecious - having male plants and hermaphroditic-flowering plants in the same species. (not sure of relevance in this thread) parthenogenesis - production of unfertilized or misfertilized fruit that is often seedless or contains only infertile seed. thigmotropic - movement or growth of a plant, in response to physical contact. (no relevance in this thread) polydamo-dioecious - misspelling of polygamodioecious? polygamodioecious - mostly dioecious (having separate male and female individuals) with a limited amount of bisexual flowers present.