Root-bound stock is pandemic in contemporary commerce, based on what I encounter at outlets in my area (much of which is shipped up from California). I would be very surprised if your plants were not leaning over on inadequate anchorages consisting partly of major roots forming knots or going in circles etc.

Also if your plants are settling in then you have dug to hole to deep I also suspect soil not compacted enough to support plant. 6 ft. tall junipers should not have to be supported.

I would dig them out and correct root bound problems as bboy alluded to in the above post. Then replant crowning root flare 2 inches above grade.

They should straighten out once they take hold.

Good luck,

Dave

Actually I was pleasantly surpised regarding the rootballs. I would say the Italian cypress were fine, well rooted and only the Junipers were very slightly rootbound, which I unraveled at planting.

It is a sometimes windy site, so that seems to be loosening up the Italian Cyresses upward branches growth to make them look more rangey.

Maybe the problem is my planting technique? I did not particularly compact the soil. I have been in the habit when planting shrubs of digging the hole, putting the plant as straight as I can, and filling it with soil, then watering it in. But is what I should be doing with conifers, standing on the soil and compacting it, before I water it in? I thought it was ok to dig a bigger hole, so the soil is loose and easier for the new roots to form, because some of the plants are planted in hard compacted clay, which I then mulched with woodchips.

Thanks for any more insights.

I planted a 5 ft Arizona cypress in Spring of '09, and afterward noticed that I hadn't quite put it in straight and the trunk was leaning. I didn't stake it, leaving it to its own devices. It's straight as an arrow now.

I'd never stand on a planting hole and compact the soil with my feet. You want open, well-aerated soil for new roots to grow into. You don't, of course want big air pockets. But crushing the soil is not the way to eliminate those.

The worst problem with deformed roots is stock being left too long in small pots or bands, so that years later there is a very tight fist- or turnip-like formation of roots at the base of the stem. This does not always show on the outside of the root ball or mass.

As you are in a windy area with 6 ft tall new tree, you might want to stake tree down for a year to prevent possible blowover til the roots take hold.
I've had one "wild" Arizona Cyprees straighten out (strongly apial dominant) and one Carolina Sapphire Ariz. Cypress (not strongly apial dominantnot) not straighten out when planted at an angle.

My 'Carolina Sapphire' grew well right off the bat and then was laid out almost flat by snow the second winter.

On its deformed root system, which I got a good look at when I tore it out.

That you have had problems with staking does not mean that it is not possible to accomplish it successfully. You need to improve your staking method. Diagrams of how to stake trees effectively are surely present on the internet.

what is your soil type.. in my sand.. i have been known to literally jump on the soil to set it.. wetting it into a slurry.. and creating a nearly cement-like consistency .. which a week later.. is back to being sand that drains well .. if i had clay.. that would create a nightmare ...

you said 15 gallon pots were not rootbound .. how far into that root mass did you look??? just the surface???

if you used the search in GW .. you would find hundreds of posts.. wherein this plant is slandered no end.. and this is one of its endemic problems ... bboy addressed such ...

i do not know if you should rip them out.. no pic upon which to make a suggestion ... and in my world.. giant stakes will not help the view.. besides the fact.. that if it is a root ball issue.. you can stake them for a decade.. and the day after you take off the stakes.. since the plant will be 2 or 3 times larger.. they may fail again ...

my gut says ... if you must use this plant.. start much smaller ... they grow like weeds anyway in your area ... bare root them.. INSURE proper roots .. plant properly.. and a smaller plant will cope with wind and grow into a strong tree ... even better.. have us recommend something better.. [though my experience in z5 MI .. isnt going to be useless to you.. lol ...]

its when we have a certain level of instant gratification needs .. that the problems really start ... and i am going to guess.. you wanted a fast sight block .... and in trying to accomplish such.. you were fast to develop fast problems ...

pix???

ken

The few times I have staked have used two stakes, aligned with the most prevailing wind patterns.
Personally if after two years I was still having problems I'd be ready to cut it/them down and restart.
One thing I have done with this type of problem is to water the roots further and further from the rootball in an attempt to force the roots to grow out into the surrounding soil or die trying. (my watering is just putting hose down in one spot and letting it flow slowly til I think the tree has received at least the minimum amount of water planned for). Of course alternate the sides of the rootball where placed.
Arizona Cypress have worked well for me and are native to SW USA. Italian Cypress tends to have slightly more problems than AC but should do well also. Good luck.

Thanks everyone for the feedback. It is heavy clay soil and has continued to be really wet, so I was easily able to shove 10 ft. poles deep into the center of each so they are not visible and that has propped them up. So far they have held up through the latest storm. If they topple again, I will just remove them, or if I am feeling motivated get gargantuan poles and stake properly, which I admit I have been too lazy to do, and yes I don't particularly want to stare at stakes after all this time.

I agree smaller plants might have established better. But who knows if they would have survived the gophers. Or me.

My conundrum with growing conifers thus far is I ended up pulling out some favorite conifers planted small because they grew so slowly. I don't need fast screening, as much as I need visual impact in a still young garden. Ofcourse, already in retrospect, I wish I had the patience and left them. But I vouched to start with older plants when possible...