I know…it sounds horrible, and it's usually unintentional.  You've all been a witness, one time or another, walking past a landscaped bed, or yard, or municipal parking lot or park…and there it is…a tree fastened firmly to a nursery stake that it outgrew a couple of years ago or a decade ago. Or maybe it's a label that is now embedded in tree bark…or even worse, it's a fastening that completely girdles the trunk or branch.

So why is this so bad? Why am I so indignant and upset, to the point of speaking to personnel at my car dealer about these horticultural faux pas (errors to those whose French is long forgotten)?

It's a couple of issues.

The first is that young trees, even those freshly planted in their new and permanent location, need to move a bit. I liken it to that broken arm or leg that eventually comes out of its cast or splint. If it stays supported forever, the muscles wither away. It's bad enough after six weeks of restraint (hurray for physiotherapy!)

When a sapling arrives in its five or fifteen-gallon pot, it is firmly attached to a nursery stake, usually with green nursery tape, from top to bottom. Often one sees that stake, coupled with two heavier stakes on either side, with the tree attached firmly in the middle up and down the trunk.   And there it stays… I've seen thirty-year old ornamental crab apple trees with a stake stuck in the bark. I've seen tape stuck in the bark, and wiring, and other fasteners. That brings me to the “other issue”.

Tree bark is more than just a covering. Yes, it protects the wood below from insect and other damage, but what is it actually protecting? It's covering the tree's vascular system, its circulatory system. Just below that bark is the phloem and xylem, technical terms for the two types of veins, if you like, that help feed that tree. The phloem transports the sap, which contains sugars manufactured through photosynthesis by the leaves, down through the tree where it feeds the tree. The xylem carries water and minerals from the roots up through the tree.

When the bark is compressed, this compression damages or cuts through the phloem and xylem, impeding or preventing this essential circulation. It is particularly damaging if the pressure girdles (goes around) the entire branch or trunk. The tree begins to languish, and no amount of food or water will improve its health. A girdled tree will die.

So what can I do, you ask? Now you know that when you see trees with tight bindings, you now know it's not good for the tree. Check your garden, and inform your friends. It's a common mistake. A tree with unencumbered bark is a happy tree!  

But what about staking, you ask? That's a topic for another time!