“You see how the thick branches point away from each other? That’s so they don’t block their buddy’s light.”
Would be nice if there was more info on this. Without any, I would suggest the trees below are growing because of light reaching them as a result of the higher trees' branches facing other directions from some other cause. Presumably the smaller trees sprouted after the taller trees, in which case the above is suggesting the branches of the taller trees changed direction when the young trees arrived, so the branches should have a curve.