One other note here as I revisited this after my post.

THere is another command that worked better. I used the "Merge" command on your original tree edges to unify them then I used that curve without rebuilding it. Satisfactory and faster.

Also, I created a different patch surface using only 5 lines in the direction array, so a total of 10, and was able to bend things around much easier with better results! (didnt need such finite control)

FYI