Depends on the plant. Not usually, *if* you properly prune/train the new leader, etc. if it would indeed normally have a leader.

trees are not really a plant and forget equation ...

you prune them all.. into the shape you want ...

e.g. .. if you get an oak in a box ... the box has little to do with what it will look like in 100 years ...

make any sense ...

one thing for sure... with trees.. there is no such thing as instant gratification ... it take trees decades to mature ... and.. on some level.. thinking what comes out of the box.. putsyou in the instant gratification camp ...

go for it.. its like xmas ... when you get a box of plants ... but do order from a good supplier ... ask if you dont know about the seller you are thinking about ...

ken

I pulled out a slow-growing kind of hawthorn after several years because it never got over being topped to fit in the box. The grower had trained it to have a tree shape with a clear stem and elevated crown and then the seller shortened the elevated crown to get the tree to fit in the box, thereby effectively destroying the merchandise at time of packaging (because this particular kind of tree was not any good at restoring its shape with any expediency - the remaining horizontal side branches continued as before but the response to the topping was a cluster of weak little twigs from beneath the cut).

I of course paid more for this too-big-to-fit-in-our-boxes size, again only to have it deformed and spoiled. I would have gladly bought a cheaper one but they offered only the one size.

"trees are not really a plant and forget equation..."

Ken, were you sauced when you wrote that?