The Case Against Tree Staking

Staking is the last step of planting a tree, isn't it?   Many professional landscapers believe it, so how could it be wrong?

Trees need to move.  Trees react to stresses put upon them.  When a tree moves around, it knows that it needs to grow roots in order to stay upright and live.

The tree will also add wood to the lower part of the tree in order to strengthen itself against disturbance, thus creating a nice tapered trunk.

When a tree is shackled tightly to the ground, it does not move, so it will not feel the stresses placed upon it.  Without those stresses, there will not be any corrective growth, and the tree will be very slow to establish itself, thus needing more support. Get it...the more support you give, the more it needs (I could draw many correlations to parenting there, but you get the point..)

Adding insult to injury, most landscapers will move on and not return to remove the ties around the tree.  Ever seen this?

This is what happens.  This poor specimen is slowly choking on those green ties.  The bulges are where water and nutrients could not pass, and just caused growth there.  This tree will die.  Most likely this upcoming summer, when the upper crown will not be able to take up as much water as it needs.  

If this tree is lucky enough to survive a few more years, the next hurricane will cause this to break on that weak narrow point where the ties are.  Either way.....

If you must stake a tree down (poor root system, very loose soil, etc) then do the tree a favor and use wide strap like ties and not narrow wire.  Tie it loosely, as the idea is to enable it to move, but not far enough to tip over.  Then make sure to take them off the next year.

See you next time,

Jay