Chris,
What do you mean "Loose tree form?"
Leave it alone!
It's still growing, they are fast growers that is all.
It won't complete growing for awhile yet.
Are the ends bright red? That means it is growing there.
It will only bloom on OLD wood. Which means if you prune it before next summer, you won't see the blooms, the "smoke" which is really cool to see.
If you still want it in a tree form, spring of 2009 cut it the way you want it and it will bloom on the foliage left at the top.
By the way, personally, I don't think that these bushes look good as a tree form. They are grown for their foliage, therefore, you might be disappointed if you cut all the branches off trying to make a tree out of it.(I saw them at the nursery that I bought mine at last spring.)
THey will get real big real fast.
If you think it's too big, just cut it all the way down in the spring. They don't like having branches pruned half way.
Just cut the whole thing down to about 1 foot and you will have a whole new smoke bush.
It is beautiful, it looks like mine.
Wait til fall, you won't believe the beautiful colors!
Good Luck with it!

Purple smoke bushes, though yours doesn't seem to be a named cultivar, are not as hardy as the straight species and experience considerable dieback around here. Thus they're best grown as cut back shrubs for the foliage only.

This one is "Grace". Since it's still small, I plan to burlap it over the worst of the winter. There are lots of smoke bushes in this town that grow tall and bloom just fine.

Butterfly4U, I don't plan to prune it severely. However, I want to build a bed around it and so will try to keep just one main stem (which is what I have right now). However, I have read that 'Grace' doesn't sucker, anyway, so that shouldn't be an issue. It's also beside the driveway, so I will have to remove some branches, eventually.
I'll follow your advice, wait a while, and then remove entire branches if they are in the way. I don't want a perfect "tree" form but, to obscure a certain view, would like it to be broader at the top than the bottom.

Thanks

In the third year that I had my Purple Emperor Smoketree, it started to grow at an amazing rate. But, by the end of the season, I had two branches which had grown to 12' or so, while the rest of the plant remained at 1' tall.

So I cut down the (2) tall branches that winter, ... and the next year I had maybe a dozen branches that had grown to about 12'.

I still was not happy with the shape of the plant, so I cut that dozen branches down, and got something much fuller the next year.

This is what it looked like last year ...

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I think that you will eventually have to trim your tree to get what you want. I've seen some smoketrees which were just allowed to grow with no trimming ... and they turn out to be quite gangly. They, many times, have quite an interesting shape, but they are not at all full.

Chris,
I knew your smoke tree looked like mine.
I have a "Grace" also.
Grew 5 feet last year when I planted it.
Grew another 3 or 4 this year and is still growing.
I love it!
Just prune off whatever branches you want off the sides next spring.
The burlap is a great idea!
I recently ordered a gold smoke bush (haven't received it yet) and it will be small, I think I will use burlap this winter too.
Thanks for the idea!

I live in North Florida and smoke trees are not sold here in nurseries. I ordered one on-line and recieved it last October as a bare single stick about 12 inches tall. I immediately planted it (morning sun, afternoon shade) and it's thriving. Has grown to over 6 feet tall but is still just a single stalk and is not filling out at all. How and when do I prune it, if at all, to encourage branching out? I had one in CT that was HUGE but bought that in a bush form. Any advice you could give me would be appreciated. Thanks!

JennaJenna,

Cut your entire smoke bush/tree down to 1'-2' tall at the end of every growth season ... until you get the fullness you want.

It's better to cut this one alot ... rather than a little.

The plant will respond to your annual cuts by multiplying its branches ... and growing new branches.

Cotinus 'Grace' is a hybrid between C. coggygria and the native C. obovatus. As such, I believe that coppicing is not recommended. It will grow to a 20 foot tree like shrub.

what does "burlapping" the tree/bush in winter mean exactly? Just around the trunk or over the whole thing? Details? I'm in zone 5 too. Thanks!!

That long branch you mention is a perfect candidate for a leader,let it grow and you will have a small tree, cut it back and you'll have a bush,or at least a multiple leader, which would have to be removed later in order to avoid ending up with a forked tree.