Trees add an important element of visual appeal to a landscape, balancing the layout while bringing new life and color to the environment. Therefore, it’s not uncommon for homeowners to plant trees in their yard.
Whether it’s a red maple, white oak, American elm, American holly, or a traditional conifer, trees offer a simple yet effective way to enhance the aesthetics of your landscape.
But what happens if a young tree you recently planted keeps falling over? When this occurs, it can cause significant stress as well as physical injury. The tree may crack and splinter along the base, or some of its roots may rise from the ground.
Depending on the severity of the damage, it could be enough to kill an otherwise healthy specimen. The good news is that you can protect young trees from falling over by taking a few simple precautions.
Choose the Right Location
When choosing a spot to plant a tree, consider its daily sun exposure and wind exposure. Young trees may lack the structural integrity to withstand strong winds, causing them to fall over during harsh storms and bad weather.
If you believe this is causing your tree to fall over, perhaps you can plant it next to a structure like a shed, garage or even elevated land to create a natural barrier of protection from the wind.
Settle the Soil
Another common reason why young trees fall over is because the soil is too soft. Conventional wisdom should lead you to believe that a tree is more likely to fall over if its roots are buried in soft soil.
To protect your tree from this phenomenon, it’s recommended that you walk around the tree, gently stomping on the soil to compress it.
If it’s been a while since it last rained, you may also want to water the soil around your tree.
Doing so will help settle the soil, enhancing the structural integrity of your tree and other nearby plants or vegetation.
Stake it
Of course, there’s no better way to keep a young tree from falling over than by staking it to the ground. As long as the tree is less than ten feet tall, you can use this method to keep it upright.
Simply drive two or three stakes around the tree, connect it with nylon rope, and it should be good to go!
The Woodsman Company offers tree planting, tree pruning and shrub trimming, tree removal and stump grinding as well as a tree wellness program.
If we can help with any of your tree care needs give us a call at 512-846-2535 or 512-940-0799 or
Settling the soil is something that I see many landscaping guys not do at all. Some of them believe that trees roots need to “breathe” in order to grow strong. Can you believe it?!
Thank you for the article!
I haven’t seen this around much, even at tree nurseries in the area. You see something new everyday! Thanks so much for the interesting content.