I recently obtained some property in the Hill Country of Texas
that has several natural growing Mountain laurels. Once the other trees around the ML's were cutback to give the them some breathing room, parts of them are leaning over, some to the point they are touching the ground. I have tied them upright but they are still leaning. Should I cut them back, if so how low to the ground? In a few cases parts of them have been partially uprooted. I need help.
Elle

Hi Elle,
I'm not sure just how you cut back your trees and if you mean that you've removed some. It sounds like your shrubs might be leaning towards the sun. You will have to upright them so their roots will be in the ground and stake them so they will remain upright. Eventually just the tops of the shrubs will lean towards the light. This site is for staking trees, but the basic concept is the same. You will probably need more than one guide line on the major trunks of the shrubs.

http://www.tree-planting.com/tree-planting-6.htm

Hopefully you won't need to prune back the shrubs.

Newt