If you could put up a picture that would be better.

you will not change the genetics of the tree.. and turn it into a weeping plant .. by leaving the branches there ...

i never prune recent transplants.. on the logic that each leaf is a food making machine.. and it needs all its leaves.. to grow the root mass.. to become established ...

also ... its a tree.. it will never stop growing.. so i dont understand.. what you mean.. when you say.. you like its current height???

all that said.. a pic would really help ... maybe i would make an exception to my general premise ...

did you throw fert in the hole ... at planting????

ken

Here's a pic of one of the trees. Sorry its a bit hard to see with the pines in the background. They are almost identical; roughly 10' tall with the lowest branches about 30" above the ground . The arching is not so evident in the picture, but the branches you see that appear to be angling out where virtually vertical before the new growth in March. The arching is much worst when they're wet, and the long thin vertical branches whip around in the wind but no breakage (yet). I'd have preferred rounder forms, but nursery pickings are thin around here.

By "current height", I mean I'd prefer not to cut them back and then wait 2-3 yrs to grow back to the height they are now.