And now, today, close to a year later. So you want to live in Colorado?
May 16 and still no leaves. But they are close.
The astute observer will see that they are tied together. I use this old dog fence wire I dug up in my yard--it is plastic with a metal core and you can use it both as cord and a twist tie.
The tree on the left, the most recent to be liberated from a tree cage, is still a little bit wobbly. The rubber pencil thing. Jimmy legs. Without the support from the more-upright, stronger tree on the right, it will lean. Depending on the wind it may lean a lot. I believe it always helps to "harden" plants and aspen have to endure a lot in the way of wind. But even fast-growing trees have limits. They cannot change from rubbery to woody overnight or perhaps even within a few years. This is an accelerated upward process.
And, now they that they are going to explode with leaves--it happens within a few days--they are going to become heavier on top. As fast as they will grow they will not harden that fast. Uncontrolled, I believe, the leaning will become worse.
They are extremely healthy and will grow quickly now but they are not safe yet. One branch within reach and the whole tree can be pulled down and destroyed.
