Dear Ms. Regennitter,

I can understand your concern. I consulted our Athens County OSU Extension Agent, Ed Brown, as he is quite knowledgeable about trees. This is his reply:

While this is not as common with trees of this type, it does happen. The nursery should have addressed this early on, but with many trees and not a clear leader in the early life of the plant, it can be a challenge. The problem is that you are now faced with a dilemma. There are several options:

• You could leave both leaders and hopefully it doesn’t fail in later years (Not the best choice)
• Stunt the growth of one of the leaders. Do this by trimming back the branches of one leader to a few inches (~ 6-8”) (not all the way to the trunk). This will slow the growth and allow the other leader to gain dominance. For cedars, this should just take a few seasons.
• If you don’t think you can handle this, have the tree removed and replaced.

If you have not already done so, I suggest you contact the nursery and share your concerns, based on this advice. I would think they would offer to help with the pruning, if you do not feel comfortable doing it yourself. Ideally, they would offer to replace the trees for you so that you are not dissatisfied.

Thank you for your question and for choosing to plant native trees that are beneficial to wildlife. I have read that the Eastern Red Cedar attracts 90 different species of birds. (-:

You are very welcome. I'm glad to hear that the nursery plans to replace the trees. (-:

Good gardening!

Char