what does a stick placed beside a growing tree do to help?

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what does a stick placed beside a growing tree do to help?

In: Earth Science

7 Answers

Anonymous 0 Comments

That stick is called a stake. It is to help the floppy tree sapling have something to help guide it. Mostly used to stabilize unruly plants or to help a plant grow a particular way.

Anonymous 0 Comments

Most fruit trees are grafted. This means you cut a branch off a good fruit tree and stick that on a stem of a similar tree that only has roots. This effectively clones the tree you took the branch off of while giving you the advantages of the roots you stick it onto (either better disease resistance and/or dwarfing so it doesn’t grow too big).

That graft point where the two connect is a major weak point and needs to be reinforced with a separate support. The branch also was not grown to support it’s weight vertically and may take a few years to be able to hold it’s own weight in its new orientation. A stiff stick next to the tree helps solve these two issues.

Anonymous 0 Comments

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Anonymous 0 Comments

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Anonymous 0 Comments

Also, if the baby tree is in a park or a lawn the stick acts as a sign to the person mowing to avoid that spot. I planted 10 seedlings mowed over 6 of them before they were tall enough to notice.

Anonymous 0 Comments

Many decorative trees grow more like shrubs naturally or at least start out that way. You can force it to grow tall by trimming bottom branches as it gets taller. The stake gives it time for the trunk to thicken and become strong enough to withstand wind as the foliage up top causes it to be top heavy.

Anonymous 0 Comments

If the tree grew in a sheltered spot and was transplanted to a more open environment its trunk will not have developed the necessary fibers to withstand winds well especially if you consider most transplanted deciduous trees are leggy– that is they are mostly trunk and all their leaves are at the top and act as windcatchers to tip the little guy. If you stake the tree (tied with rope), there will be more stability against wind. Once a better root system develops and the trunk a climates to the wind you can remove the stakes.