I have heard ginkgo trees grow very slowly; 4 ft sounds short for a tree of that age but I wouldnt be surprised if its normal. Make sure your pine is growing straight and has one good leader (shouldnt have to do much with a pine). Also, 2 ft sounds short for the pine but growth rate can very between species. Im not sure what you mean by topping, but never top a tree in a sense that you are cutting way back into the old wood. Its about the worst thing you can do to a tree. Trimming it to good form should be done, but nothing drastic. It sounds like overall, your trees are on the small side. Make sure that get enough to drink and research fertilizing each one in a specific way; this should ensure your trees grow healthy, given they are planted where they want to be.

I planted a Kousa (not a named cultivar, just a species grown-from-seed tree) 2 years ago, and just found out they typically take 10 years to bloom! Arghhhh.

any chance at some pix .. ken

"1. I planted a ginko tree about 10 years ago. It's still only about 4 feet high. Is this normal?"

Slow, but within the range of variation. A lot depends on where you are, and what climate you have.

"2. Three years ago I planted a little pine. It was very tiny. It's growing well. About 2 feet high. Do I need to prune it or anything? Should I just leave it alone?"

Best to leave it alone.

"3. I have a Japanese Maple. I got it when it was very tiny and now it's about 4 feet tall. I staked it this year because it seemed so flimsy. Is this normal? Should I be topping it or trimming it or anything?"

NEVER top trees, that's very bad for them. It is also better not staked - the more flexibility it has in the wind, the more it will put on wood to strengthen itself.

"4. Two years ago I planted a Kousa Dogwood. At least that's what the lady from the garden club told me it was. It really doesn't look like anything and is very sprawly. The lowest branches nearly touch the ground. Should I cut them off, or will they grow taller with the tree."

Leave the low branches on. They won't get any higher, but they do bear leaves which help provide energy for the growing tree, which is very important while it is still small. You can trim them off in a few years when the tree is larger.

Resin

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I'm mostly concerned about the Kousa because it's so low to the ground. Should I cut off some of those lower branches? The others seem to be OK, except maybe I'm planting too much stuff too close to them.

Thanks

The 'pine' is a spruce, probably a Colorado Spruce. It will want a larger grass-free circle; take out the plastic things and move them about twice as far out.

Again on the Cornus kousa, leave the low branches for a few years until it is larger. That too would be better with a larger grass-free circle.

Resin

Generally trees get stronger when unstaked, but I believe japanese maples are different. All the young japanese maples I've bought were all staked to develop a strong "leader". But I would get an opinion from the maple or japanese garden forums because those guys are VERY knowledgable!

Staking of Japanese maples is not a requirement and is suggested depending on variety and graft location. Often weeping or cascading forms are staked as a training guide to help them achieve a more upright habit (therefore more height) before the weeping effect takes over. They do not really develop a "leader" in the same sense that some other trees (like most conifers) do and there is no reason to attempt to encourage one. The typical growth habit usually involves a rather short trunk with branching beginning low on the tree, the exact point more or less determined by cultivar and positioning of the graft.

One other observation: small trees grow rather slowly and can rather easily be overtaken by the more rapid growth of perennials and shrubs, which will also compete for water and nutrients. The ginkgo and maple would be happier and probably fair better if they weren't choked out quite as densely with other plants.

PErhaps a little too much competition from other plants.
It looks like that spruce is planted in a container that is buried in the ground. Is that a container buried in the ground or plastic edging?

Is that a miniature Ginkgo cultivar? I have planted ginkgos from seedlings five years ago and one is over 7 feet tall and the other is about 5 feet tall. The 7 foot ginkgo gets more sun.