How to Stake A Tree in 5 Easy Steps

Not all trees need staking, but some do. Stakes allow young saplings to grow strong and thick if they struggle to stand straight. Most trees are fine, as they correct bends in their trunk when they mature and grow thicker. Others aren’t as lucky and require some extra help before they mature.

You’ll want to stake these three types of woody plants: young saplings, new transplants, and weak trees. They benefit from some stabilization early in life. After a season or two of staking, their trunks will be thick and sturdy enough to handle wind, ice, and excessive rain. 

These staking steps guide you through the process whether you have a new transplant or an established specimen. Sideways saplings will be towering, straight trees after a season or two of support. Follow along to get your species looking tall, sturdy, and vigorous!

Does Your Tree Need Staking?

Not all trees need staking! They develop stronger trunks if they don’t receive support when young. The natural sway and shifting that occurs in windy conditions causes the plant to release chemicals called cytokinins. These chemicals cause the trunk’s cells to expand and grow thicker, creating strong and woody plant tissues. 

Staking won’t hurt your specimen, though, as most trees recover after a few seasons of rapid growth. Stake yours if it is growing in an intensely windy location, if the trunk is too weak to stand without support, or if the topmost branches are larger than the bottom half of the tree.

Young Sapling

Perhaps you grew a cherry tree from a seed, or there’s a young specimen in your yard from last year’s planting. Young saplings generally don’t require staking, unless they’re weak or have a lopsided structure. Bendy trees are okay, so long as they straighten after the wind subsides. 

If your saplings bend and stay bent, they’ll need stakes for extra support until they can handle their weight. Tying them to stakes while they’re young allows them to grow straight before they start thickening their trunks.

New Transplant

The best time to stake a tree is when you transplant it—you’ll already be digging a hole where you can drill in the supporting poles. Some transplants won’t need staking, while others will. If your transplant bends over in the wind or has a small root ball that pulls out of the hole, you’ll want to tie down your tree.

The process for staking new transplants differs from staking ones with roots in the ground. Fear not, as we’ll cover what to do in both situations. 

Weak Tree

Older specimens sometimes need support if their tops grow heavier than their trunks can manage. Help them grow straight, and they’ll stay robust without aid for decades to come. Trees that recently lost some of their roots from digging or animal activity are also good candidates for stakes while they recover. 

The rule of thumb is this: if the tree bends but rights itself without help, it doesn’t need staking. It needs stakes if it falls over, grows sideways, or leans excessively.

Step 1: Bury Two Sturdy Stakes

The first step involves planting stakes in the ground that act as sturdy anchoring bases. They create two more reinforcing structures for the sapling so that it stays straight despite stormy conditions. How you bury the stakes depends on what type of tree you have.

When transplanting woody shrubs or trees that require reinforcement, you’ll want to bury the stakes into opposite ends of the hole near the root ball. Drill two wooden or metal stakes so that they oppose each other with the tree in the middle. Arrange them so that the strongest winds flow through the space between them.  

Existing trees are much easier to help. Simply bury or drill two stakes on opposite ends of the tree. Like with new transplants, arrange them so that the strongest winds flow through the space between them. Use stakes the right size for your trees—they should be a little taller than where the topmost shoots branch off the main trunk.

Step 2: Determine The Support Point

The support point is where the ties attach to the tree. It’s where tying cables to your plant will best help it stay straight. Find it with this simple trick:

1. Start three feet above the ground, putting two fingers behind the trunk to raise it.
2. Keep raising your fingers higher until they fully support the tree. 
3. Mark the spot on the trunk.
4. The support point is six inches above this mark.

This point is generally low on young saplings and taller for existing specimens. It’s crucial to tie cables to the support point and not lower or higher on the trunk. A high placement leads to wood snapping, and a low placement doesn’t keep the canopy upright. Follow this trick to find where to tie cables, no matter how old or young the plant is. 

Step 3: Tie Tree To Stakes

What type of ties you use greatly impacts how well they work. Wires or soft-coated wires never work, as they eventually girdle trunks after digging into their wood. Use fabric, canvas, or rubber collars that are sturdy but giving. With some flexibility, your specimen can wave in the wind while benefitting from additional structure.

Easily tie up your tree once you have stakes in the soil. Attach one end of the tie to the metal or wooden stake and the other to the tree’s support point. Stagger the second tie below or above this one on the trunk, and tie its other end to the second stake. 

You’ll want the ties to be tight with some leeway. Create enough slack on each tie for the trunk to move two inches in any direction. This extra room is crucial for strong trunk development—it partially triggers the release of cytokinins that thicken and reinforce the wood.

Step 4: Remove Stakes and Ties

Six months to a year later it’ll be time to remove those stakes! The supports are temporary aids that boost the tree to grow well on its own. Leave them too long and they’ll start to hinder growth rather than support it. So, how do you know when to remove them?

Trees are ready to live without stakes when they survive wind, rain, or snow without gaining a permanent bend. If you remove the ties and notice your tree still leans, refasten them and check on the sapling in a month or two. 

Stakes are ready to remove when the tree doesn’t bend or lean on its own and the roots seem to have a strong base. Push the tree a bit to see how it reacts, and make your best judgment call based on how it moves. After six months the support point may have shifted—you can use the test with two fingers to redetermine where it is.

Step 5: Repeat for Weak Trees

Sometimes, woody species struggle to establish themselves in harsh conditions. Or, extreme storms damage them so they need fastening again. Whatever the reason is for a weak tree, there’s no harm in refastening stakes and ties to help it another time. 

Repeat this staking process as often as necessary until the saplings grow up and out without help. Some species sprout weak, quick-growing wood, while others are hardier but slower-growing. Adjust your staking period to match the trees’ needs and they’ll thank you with sturdy growth!

Follow up with yearly additions of compost on top of the soil, and prune dead or diseased wood. Your trees will grow happy, healthy, and sturdy as they structure themselves in their best shapes. You’ll marvel at the old specimens and remember how they were once weak, young saplings that needed your help. 

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