Staking Fruit Trees?

[Eco-Chic]

I've recently bought Apple, Cherry, Pear & Plum Trees from Lidl. Should I stake them when I plant them out? My garden isn't particularly windy.

[pigletwillie]

Its always good practice to. Even with little wind the tree will rock and the roots will get loosened or damaged.

[littlemark]

I agree, these will probably be on half-standard or semi-dwarfing rootstock, and therefore shouldn't need staking for the whole of their life, but they'll need a firm anchor until the roots have properly established. A gently rocking tree will find it difficult to establish the fine rootlets essential for the health of the tree. Another potential problem, particularly on clay soils, is the possiblility that the roots will smear the soil around them resulting in the tree sitting in soil which does not freely drain. For the same reason you should always dig the holes with a fork rather than a spade which can also smear the sides and bottom creating a pond for the tree to sit in.

Do you have many rabbits in Tottenham Eco-Chic? If you do it's a good idea to protect the trunk down to ground level too.

Mark

[Alison]

It's normally recommended to stake trees for at least their first few years of life.

[Eco-Chic]

Thank you all. I shall stake them.

Littlemark, I am in the habit of using a border fork as when I moved here more than twenty years ago the clay was horrible sticky orange stuff with blue grey stuff below that and was very heavy to lift.

I used a 5 pronged cultivator to break up the bottom of planting holes and incorporate grit, compost, BF&B and Chicken pellets.

Although it's rather nice now it's become a habit and the spade is used more as a shovel. Having said that, I'll be making the paths smaller so they are probably very compacted.

Rabbits are not a problem. Squirrels are, but they don't damage the bark.

Thanks again for the advice everyone.

[Mcbee]

Squirrels are, but they don't damage the bark.

Thanks again for the advice everyone.[/QUOTE]

I thought squirrels did strip bark?

[FB.]

Rabbits strip the bark near ground level.
Squirrels strip the bark on main branches - usually on large trees.
Stripping of the bark can allow infections to get in, or -in severe cases- it can stop sap flow and cause the tree or branch to die.

[Eco-Chic]

Hmmm, may have to practise lobbing the snails at the squirrels to make them keep their distance then.

My dogs bark at them but the squirrels know the dogs can't reach 'em

[Snadger]

Just to be different..........I don't stake them! Prefer to let them do their own thing. Apart from my cordon apples which have canes to train them against, but they aren't really stakes!

If you do want to protect against wind rock it is probably best to put two stakes in at low level directly opposite each other.

The last two years my unstaked Sunset apple grown in a large container has been laden with apples, so much so that the weight of the apples has caused the branches to grow horizontally. Horizontal branches make more fruiting spurs so inadvertently nature has done me a favour!

[kentvegplot]

Yes, agree with pigletwillie - stake them. If you're growing on a very dwarfing rootstock, the advice is to stake for the whole of its life. Either one stake upright, or at an angle on the windward side of the tree. Use something to buffer the stake so it doesn't rub on the tree.