Staking Saplings

As I sat in my fledgling garden admiring my second-season eucalyptus (its already 9 feet tall!), I wondered about the benefits and disadvantages of tying it to a stake in its early years. The first 4 feet was staked at planting, and is stiff, but above that a week of wind left it decidedly bent downwind. I extended the staking to 7 feet (to straighten it), but now the top 2 feet above that is blowing about. That's ok, as I am not worried about branches angling above head-height, and will let it grow naturally. On the other hand, the 'trunk' is quite thin.

My point is - is staking stopping the trunk of the young tree from thickening naturally to give it strength, or will it still 'stiffen' anyway and allow me to remove the stake in a few years? Am I doing the tree good, or just storing trouble for later?

 

It was planted in a completely new plot, so the soil was loose and unsupportive. Perhaps I'll remove the top stake soon, but leave the lower stake in for another winter, with the ties eased off a bit to allow some 'baby' swaying.

 

My usual approach to Eucalyptus is to cut it back, because I want to keep it smaller and cant cope with a large tree.
But I believe this is also good practice when it comes to establishing a good root hold.

If you cut it back in spring for the first couple of years it will become more stable before going upwards.
It will go upwards when left to its own devices, so no problem there, but it will have made good roots and unlikely to get root rock in the future