I'm having a similar problem with two different trees. One of my ironwood trees has the upper branches leaning away from my neighbor's mesquite tree. And I have a live oak tree with the upper branches leaning away from an established and much shorter navel orange tree. Both trees are leaning to the north/northwest and I've attached pictures to try and better describe what I'm talking about. Is it normal for trees to lean away from nearby established trees like this in order to compete for sunlight, etc. ? Is there any other possible reason for the leaning ? Is it possible for me to trim the upper leaning branches out some, and encourage any branches that go towards the opposite side in order to even out the canopy ? Or am I just fighting a natural phenomenon and unlikely to reverse the trend ?