A Gardeners Forum Forums Gardening Reference Gardening in 2004 Tree stakes

My mom bought a young carrotwood tree last spring and it has its trunk tied to a long stake. The trunk is really thin and she gets some good wind gusts that might harm it. But my question is, will the stake stunt the growth of the tree? It doesn't seem to be growing much and my sister thinks its starting to bow a bit. Should we loosen up the ties or use a different method of support? The tree is about 8 ft tall with a long thin trunk and most of its growth at the top 2-3 feet. Any help would be most appreciated.

http://sarasota.extension.ufl.edu/Hort/MG/Carrotwood.htm
I did a lil look around ( leavin work now, so I don't want to be here longer than necessary) but apparently they are pretty self sufficient, too progressive in some araes. Of course if it's thin, it will need a lil helping hand with support, but i try to use something that won't "grow" into the tree, or at least expands. Alot of people use nylons for ties, and maybe each time you go by, you could move the nylon 9 where it touches the tree) up or down a few inches to prevent it from scarring the trunk. It does seem to have nice flowers and seed pods from the pictures. Good luck with it. I'm sure the first year, it was still adjusting to it's new home!

Thanks Renee. I was thinking that maybe we should change the type of ties being used. I don't think the ones on there are giving it much room to breathe. It does look like a pretty tree, I can't wait to see it get bigger and give some shade to her sunny yard. Thanks again.

I found a link you may find informative....take a look....

supporting a tree

Thanks Barb. I'll send that on to my sister. I think we may need to change its ties a bit, but other than that it should be okay.

Gardengal....we had a couple of those trees in Hac. Hts. Make sure it isn't planted to close to a driveway or sidewalk....it WILL lift it up! We had to remove one tree just for that reason. The seeds will want to sprout constantly!

It is a beautiful tree....when my kids were little they used to call those seed hulls...little pumpkins because they turned orange color. Kinda messy if driving over them.

Oh yea......hopefully you got a male tree....the females produces thousands of the pods each year!!!

Don't get me wrong these are great looking trees IF planted in the right area!!!!

Catlover...eek, its kind of close to a sidewalk. I'll have to measure it. I think she did get a male tree, I don't remember many seed hulls last year. Thanks for the info. I'll pass it on as well.

I have found this site extremely helpful when selecting trees to plant. It gives info about pruning needs, root invasiveness and lots of other goodies. It's from Florida and may not apply about it's invasiveness in your state.

http://hort.ifas.ufl.edu/trees/index.htm

Newt

Thanks Newt!!