Jenny.Haywood

lost its leading shoot

Tying it to a cane should work, if you are carefull not to bend it so far it breaks.

Alternatively, as was suggested earlier you could prune the existing shoots, then next spring train one of the resulting new, softer shoots up a cane to become new leader. Hope it survives the ash die back, any signs of it in your part of the country (where?)

lost its leading shoot

If you want to improve the shape you could train one of the shoots upwards, and it will become a new leader - shoots trained vertically will usually grow more vigorously than more horizontal ones.

pond construction the american way

Hi Ponddigger

What is "the american way"?

Garden Paddler