A Killer Knot

When a tree is staked, it should be considered a temporary act, and a general rule of thumb is that tree stakes and straps should be removed after one growing season. Tree staking is not a “more is better” action, but rather longterm staking can lead to the harming of your tree and in some cases, killing the tree. Case in point is this tree that is along Vista Parkway.

You might have noticed this maple tree and thought that it was a unique species since it was green on the bottom and red on the top. Unfortunately, this tree is stressed. The straps were cut from the stakes, but not removed from the trunk. Overtime, the tree grew and was chocking on the straps; and the color change and early leaf drop was due to the tree being stressed. It was probably made even worse this year due to the low rainfall this summer, which stressed a lot of our trees.

We’ll see if this tree can recover, hopefully it was not too late to cut it free. Only time will tell.

Nit all trees need to be staked, but if you feel that a tree that you planted needs to be staked, here is a good guide: https://cmg.extension.colostate.edu/Gardennotes/634.pdf

For more tree information, checkout this link:
https://cmg.extension.colostate.edu/gardening-resources/online-garden-publications/trees-and-shrubs/#Planting