Being so young I’d let it be for another year or three.

tj

Okay, that answers that. I wasn't looking forward to trying to cut it back. I like your advice. Thanks. :-)

and here is the long version ..

its a conifer.. which is a tree .. and we talk in tree time.. counted in decades ...

and its a babe ... 2 to 3 years.. in tree time ... to get established.. grow the root mass to grow the tree ..

we do not speed that process by cutting off food making machines.. otherwise known as leaves.. or here.. needles ... we need them to grow the roots...

if it were mine.. i would take a thin 3 foot bamboo stake ... and slide it straight down next to the root flare ... and splint the tree to it.. so it was perfectly upright ... so it will put on height ... and then would retie it every month or three as needed ..

and in a year or two.. it will start branching.. just have faith ..

i do not think it will pull itself upright on its own ...

unless of course.. you want it laying on the ground.. until it decides to put upa new leaders.. in 3 to 5 years ...

ken

Here is a link to the shrub I bought. I didn't buy it from this company, but that looks like the photo and description of what I bought.

Taxus Helen Corbett

Using a stake to create an upright leader sounds like the right step to take.

Thank you Ken.

Since (going by the page you linked to) 'Helen Corbett' is apparently a low, mounding kind there is no point in staking it. Or being concerned about it starting out with a sideways orientation - look at the photo you linked to, all the branches of the specimen shown look like your plant does now.

That is why I thought it was a good idea to post the photo to see which plant we were talking about. I wasn't quite sure about changing it's natural growth pattern. Thanks Embothrium.

What do you think, Ken?

It’s a dumpy cultivar. Forcing it into a shape it doesn’t want to be in will be unsuccessful and you’ll be fighting it forever. If you want a fastigiate yew get a suitable cultivar. This one isn’t it.

Dumpy? That sounds unattractive. I have the same one snd hope it will be a prostrate but lovely specimen!

No, I wasn't looking for a fastigiate yew, I wanted the color and a low background screen, behind other plantings. Not a specimen plant. Unfortunately, this particular nursery offers very young, small shrubs and that is not the usual size you buy. I wasn't thinking it was going to take that long to develop into a useable size.

OK, not dumpy😊 Rounded? Curvaceous?

Zaftig? LOL!

Here is another photo that shows the other side of the shrub, already starting to branch out....

If it's the same kind as at the linked to page it will assume the same basic size and shape on its own over time.

Which means that it is way too close to that wire fence.

Gee it does look really close to the fence in that photo, I don't think it's actually that close, but I'll have to measure it. That is one of my challenges as a gardener, too, I don't find it easy getting things placed in the right location the first time. Thanks for pointing that out.