I have a friend (in zone 7) who has a cherry tree that was planted several years ago ... in an interesting manner. The tree leans significantly. A photo is attached. (I rotated the photo to make the vertical plane accurate.)
Please advise on what can be done with this tree. Should we simply stake it and bend it as needed?
Bending it isn't going to help either. It's not a metal tube.
If it's planted at a really cockeyed angle, it's going to remain that way for a very very very long time, if not forever.
The only way to fix it is to dig out and straighten the root ball. Of course if it's been there for several years, chances are there's going to be lots of roots you'll have to cut to do that. Then you'll be back to square one in terms of getting established.