How do I stake a newly planted tree?

A stake is there to stop the rootball moving while roots establish, not to hold the tree up. Trees that are held rigid never develop trunk strength and frequently snap the year the support is removed.

What you'll need

• Stake, roughly a third the tree's height
• Adjustable tree tie with a spacer
• Mallet
• Second stake for a rootballed tree (optional)

Step by step

1. Stake at planting, not afterwards.Driving a stake in after planting goes straight through the rootball. If you must stake an established tree, angle the stake in from outside the root area.
2. Choose a short stake.Roughly a third of the tree's height. It looks inadequate and it is correct — the point is to hold the roots still while letting the top move.
3. Drive it in on the windward side.So the tree is blown away from the stake rather than against it. In most of the UK that means the south-west side.
4. Angle it at about 45 degrees.Driven in outside the rootball and leaning across the prevailing wind, crossing the trunk at the tie point. This avoids damaging roots and gives a firm anchor.
5. Tie at about a third of the tree's height.One tie, low. Ties higher up the trunk stop it flexing, which is exactly what you do not want.
6. Use a proper tie with a spacer.An adjustable rubber tie with a buffer between stake and trunk. String, wire or hose-covered wire cut into the bark within a season.
7. Use two stakes and a crossbar for a rootballed tree.Large rootballed or containerised trees with heavy heads need two stakes either side with a horizontal bar and the tie to that. Bare-root whips need a single low stake at most.
8. Check and loosen the tie annually.Trunks thicken. A tie that fitted in year one strangles the tree in year three, and the constriction is often fatal.
9. Remove the stake after two or three years.Once the roots have anchored. Leaving it longer produces a tree that has never learned to hold itself up.
10. Firm and mulch the base.Wind rock opens a hollow at the base that fills with water and rots the collar. Firm the soil after windy weather, and mulch clear of the trunk.

Tips

• The stake holds the roots, not the tree. Everything else follows from that.
• One low tie at a third of the height, not two high ones.
• Check the tie every spring. Strangled trunks are a common and avoidable loss.

Common mistakes

• Using a tall stake tied near the top of the tree — The trunk cannot flex, so it stays thin and weak, and often snaps at the tie point the year the stake is removed. Flexing is what builds trunk strength.
• Leaving the stake and tie on indefinitely — The tie cuts into the thickening trunk and can girdle it, and the tree never develops its own stability. Two or three years is the target.

If it doesn't work

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