Question
The kids next door were playing catch and inadvertently broke the top of one of my young Italian cypress. Will the tree start a new terminal bud or will it be stunted and never grow taller. Is the any thing I can do to have it grow taller.

Answer
Yes a side branch near the top will take over as the terminal branch. There maybe a slight crook where this happens but over time the crook will become less noticeable. Prune the broken branch off and make sure the tree is watered during dry periods. If the tree has been planted fro a year you can fertilize it with 10-10-10 fertilizer at the rate of about a hand full for this size tree or about 1 lb per inch of trunk diameter.