Straightening mature trees

[Brian662]

I have about 5 trees in my orchard that for one reason or another have started to lean a fair amount. If I lean on the tree to prop it into the direction it needs to go, I am able to do it. I also notice a few roots moving the ground a little bit (it's a little bit of a wet area after heavy rains and I suspect this is how they've started to lean) so I know they are capable of being supported upright.

What us the best method for staking these trees to train them better to be upright? These trees were planted 8 years ago and range from 3.5" to 5" trunk diameter. They are mostly all heavy apple producers, but I'm not sure of the variety.

 

[Fair oak]

I would try a long earth anchor with cable and turnbuckle. A 24” earth anchor would hold. Run the cable through a small chunk of garden hose to protect the tree and slowly straighten the tree over time with the turnbuckle. Worth a shot trying it on 1 tree for a year to see how it does.

 

[Prof.Kent]

I don't think its possible to straighten a mature tree without a backhoe, and that would disturb a lot of roots.
But, over time you can rebalance the tree by puning off limbs on the leaning side of the tree and encourage the tree to grow on the opposite side.

 

[cavey]

Obviously you dont want to uproot or snap the trunk but if the trees are tipping due to poor soil conditions and wind loading - well if they can tip one way than they can be tipped the other way - back. Those are smaller dia trunk'ed trees and being younger you should be able to at least stop the continued tipping by anchoring them. The real issues is why are they leaning more and more. Trees should hold their own, some trees will lean towards better sun light, but it sounds like if you can rock the trees and see the roots moving thats a different issue.
IMO if your roots are that lose anyways and If your ground is still wet, and you cant live with the lean I would ground anchor the tree and pull out the lean and try and re compact the soil, leave the tree anchored and hope that in time it roots out and deep enough to stabilize the tree. When you planted them did you dig out a huge hole and heavily amend the soil - like a big fruit bowl in heavy ground. The trees may not have extended out enough of a root system to anchor the tree - to much watering may have created a shallow root system, type of root stock too.... so many things could come into play here. The 3.5 inch trees are one thing the 5 inch dia maybe a bit more of an issue, but if you lean on them and they move in the ground thats not good.

ground anchors, t posts what ever you can screw or drive into the ground to attach a rope or webbing to that will hold - and something you can re tension periodically if need be. If it were me I would go for broke and just get it back on the right track in one shot then let the tree do its thing.... might be a combination of some root movement and then a bit of a pull over on the leader and in a few years hopefully everything will set up. No perfect answer out there - just remember ugly leaning trees can still produce fruit but ones that are tipped over usually dont - you have to make the call.

 

[Catscratch]

I'm straightening trees using t-posts as anchors and rope as the pull. I want some flexibility so they can still move with the wind some. I'll tighten the rope occasionally. Figure it will take a yr or two.

 

[Barndog56]

This won't help with your trees, but for future plantings place a couple of large rocks in the bottom of your planting holes. The roots can then grab those and help anchor the tree.

 

[Prof.Kent]

I once loaded a tree by pulling it back and anchoring it "straight". A few years later with a fulll load of apples the rope broke and the tree turnid into a trebuchet. Snapped it right in falf.

 

[Troubles Trees]

It sounds like the wind is blowing them over and the soil can't stabilize the roots so ^^^ I am with Barndog but instead of burying rocks when you plant it, I would just place large flat rocks around the tree so the roots cant pull up. If you plant them with the tree you would need a very large hole. *giggidy*

 

[PoorSand]

I've had trouble with a few severe windstorms every few years leaving a few of my trees in tilled positions. My top soil is medium textured sand and my subsoil is coarse sand or pee gravel depending on the location. I don't know if this would work on other soil types.

For trees over about 4", the steps below only work in spots I can get my pickup to. My ATV can handle only smaller trees. I prefer to do this when the ground is saturated with moisture. Most recently, I did a 5" tree yesterday and have a 6" tree to do later today once we get a break from all this rain.

1. I install a 6" long piece of black corrugated plastic tubing, slit lengthwise, on the trunk, just above a branch that is at least 1" in diameter, preferably 6' to 8' up from the base of the tree.
2. Then I take a 20 - 30 foot long rope and tie a loop in the end of it. I put the loop around a groove of the corrugated tube and feed the rope through the loop.
3. I back my pickup truck up along the direction I want to correct the tree to and tie the end of the rope to the hitch of my pickup truck.
4. I drive forward until the rope is snug. Then I creep forward about 4" at a time, giving the tree's roots a few minutes to slip through the sand or pea gravel if they need to and repeat this until the tree is upright.
5. Then I put a pressure treated 2X10 with a vee on one end, that has been cut at 30 degrees angles and covered with a strip of rubber floor mat (from Menards, sold by the foot), and put the vee against the trunk, below the branch that I had I put the corrugated tubing above.
6. I note where the lower end of the board met the ground. I remove the board and use a gravel shovel to dig a small hole for that end. I reinstall the board.
7. I back up my pickup truck a couple feet and untie the rope.
8. I move the truck forward out of the way and pound in a T-post at about 30 degrees from vertical near the end of the rope. I tie the rope to the base of the post.
9. Finally, I come back four years later, remove the materials, and go fix some other tree.

For trees that I cannot get to with my pickup truck, I try to find a large tree, like an oak or old pine, and use a come along to pull on the tree trunk. As a last resort, I use my ATV to correct the tree as far as possible and just install the board.

The most extreme example I have is that a severe windstorm four years ago tipped one of my 20' trees completely onto its side. I used the above pickup truck method to right it and cut off about one-third of the tree's canopy to match how much root I guestimated that it had lost. I took the rope of that one a few days ago.

 

[Ben.MN/WI]

I had a nice apple tree blow over in my old backyard when the soil was really saturated with water. I pulled the tree back up straight and anchored it in place with a fencepost and rope. I left that up for a couple years and new roots formed and seemed to properly anchor it.

I did the same thing a few years ago when a tree fell on a 7 year old apple tree and the tree was at a 45 degree angle. I used two fenceposts to anchor that tree and it feels really solid right now. I'll probably leave the fenceposts another year or two, but then it should be good to go.

 

[cavey]

I should have added that permanently anchoring trees is a horrible deal, like catscratch stated eventually you would need to induce some slack so that the tree can wind harden over time ( some wiggle room) then hopefully pull the anchoring system altogether.

 

[BuckSnort]

Discovered one of the oldest apple trees on the property badly tipped this weekend. My dad and I used the winch on UTV and some old fire hose to straighten it back out. Time will tell, either way, it was worth taking the chance to extend things instead of starting over. Rootstock unknown.

 

[buckdeer1]

Some root stock leans after a few years.I had one tree but didn't know what stock but it was laying on the ground still producing,finally killed one side being on ground

 

[TenPoint]

Discovered one of the oldest apple trees on the property badly tipped this weekend. My dad and I used the winch on UTV and some old fire hose to straighten it back out. Time will tell, either way, it was worth taking the chance to extend things instead of starting over. Rootstock unknown.
View attachment 56274

T-posts are meant to hold fence up. Not trees. Don’t ask me how I know. Get that strap into an earth anchor or two and it might have a chance.

 

[TenPoint]

This tree was on the ground before we used the utv to lift it back straight. Couple earth anchors and a 10,000 lb ratchet strap later. It has survived a couple more good wind storms. We had it tied to two t-posts prior. They folded like a cheap tent.

 

[H20fwler]

I’ve done the #9 wire with garden hose system up high pulled tight anchored to a long T post driven deep at an angle with relative success.

 

[Prof.Kent]

My experience has been you can't unbend a tree. If it's leaning over it's becasuethe roots are not well anchored and the roots have pulled up or broken on one side. to only safe wy to un-lean it i s to excvate around the roots in dormant season and "re-arrange" the roots. Unless the ropes pull the roots back all you're doing is loading the trunk like a catapult. When the rope breaks, bye-bye tree.

 

[Ben.MN/WI]

Several years ago, a storm dropped a large oak top on an 8 year old apple tree. The tree was pushed over at worse than a 45 degree angle. I pushed the tree back up to vertical and tied it in place using 2 fence posts and some rope. The damaged roots that snapped when the tree fell on it seem to have regrown and the tree is now growing vertically again without support. I still have the fenceposts and ropes attached to the tree, but I put some slack in the ropes so the ropes and fenceposts only support the tree during a very strong wind. I don't think that's even needed any longer, but I have no other urgent need for the fenceposts and rope so they can stay there for a while.