LandscapExperts Tip of the Week, Feb. 6

Tree Staking and the Importance of Timely Unstaking

If guy wires used to stake a young tree to prevent blow over while it is newly planted are left in place too long the wires can girdle the tree as it grows larger. “Girdling,” also known as ring-barking, disrupts or impedes the flow of sugars produced in the leaves during photosynthesis from moving downward in the cambium layer to the root system. This in turn causes a swelling above the girdling wire that is caused by the accumulation of these sugars that are hindered on their way down to the roots-- because it is blocked by the strangulating wire. The roots will slowly starve and the tree will eventually die needlessly.

CrabappleLandscapExperts remove stakes and wires after the newly planted tree is rooted into the native soil—a process that occurs within 3 to 6 months.