if its otherwise healthy.. there is no reason it wont survive.. no real need for an arborist to tell you that ... unless you have other suspicions .... all trees will releader ... thought at that height.. i dont know how you could try to speed the process ... i am not sure strangling it.. to save a separate plant is the best thing... why dont you stake the other properly.. and independently ... ken

You didn't explain what your planting situation/purpose is--do you want to plant a grove of trees? Or do you want to plant one or two ornamental trees in your yard? The basic conifer for wet soils in your area I would think is loblolly pine. I think they are very beautiful trees when planted with, or thinned to, good spacing. They are planted in mass "plantation" plantings for timber and pulpwood, and these plantings are not always attractive, unless they have become more or less mature and have been thinned several times. But I have seen them in small groups or as individual specimens in all kinds of situations and I think they can be absolutely beautiful, especially as they become mature. They have tall straight trunks and have very picturesque crowns with good balance. And they have the advantage of growing very fast, often producing three flushes of growth every year. They do grow large, so you have to have room. Midweatjeff:--have you seen mature loblolly pines in the south? There are outstanding ones as far north as the southern and eastern half of virginia, but in places further south they can grow to 120 feet or more and have the most exceptional growth form. Years ago, maybe it was is Mississippi, I saw some old stands of loblolly, and they knocked my socks off! I have always had a special place in my heart for the best old white pine stands, but these loblollies deserve a place in the tree lover's hall of fame. --Spruce

g'day daleblack, better late than never maybe hey? but here goes. first questions (as i have never used brunning gypsum), was the gypsum of a moist talcum powder type consistancy? second if yor soil is like it sounds why fight it? use raised beds for all gardens, if you wanted to you could do a raised bed first where the trees are going then plant the trees in to rasied bed, the main thing with trees is their feeder roots need to be well drained the tap root will pretty much find its own way. so for trees that need good feeder root drainage you need to plant them into a raised position that is you dig a slight hole into your original soil throw some good quality gypsum in (usually the best stuff is bought at a produce agency) then create a mound to what ever height you need over and above that to plant the trees into (might be anywher up to 1/2 the heith of the current root ball?), this is necessary with citrus in those heavy soils so you may get some clues from researching planting citrus trees. len Here is a link that might be useful: len's garden page

TreeFolks and the Texas Forest Service actually give out Bastrop-sourced loblolly pines. However, there's no way to know whether the larger trees you bought from nurseries are Bastrop-sourced, or if the seeds they grew from were collected elsewhere in the Loblolly pine's range (ie. Virginia, Florida, Alabama or Louisiana). Bastrop is on the westernmost edge of the species' range, and and plants from other sources will simply turn yellow and wither in the heat and frequent droughts (not to mention soil differences, too). Unfortunately, there is no commercial dealer of Bastrop-sourced seeds other than TreeFolks and the Texas Forest Service. I suggest you contact them. You can also try collecting seeds yourself from the unburnt trees in your area and growing them for one or two years in containers. Or if you're really passionate, you can start a seed orchard of this very special sub-population and sell the seeds/seedlings yourself.