Pine tree leaning after major rain and wind, can it be saved?

Asked by metadog (381

) January 25th, 2010

Hi! We have a row of about 12 large (20 ft.) Leeland Cypress pine trees that reside at the bottom of a hill. We just had two days of heavy rain and strong wind. The ground is saturated. One of the trees is now leaning at around 15 to 20 degrees. There doesn’t appear to be anything broken and the roots are still in the ground. Aside from pounding in some steaks and roping it up as best I can, is there anything I can do to save this tree? Is there someone I can call? Thanks!

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6 Answers

That’s all you can do, tie them down on all four sides. It should recover in the months ahead.

BTW, were the trees transplanted as grown trees or they actually grew in place as saplings?

njnyjobs (7592

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Stake it for a year or so, and you may want to mulch around the base to protect any disturbed roots.

syz (36034

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Be careful if you use any “girdling” ropes or chokers. If you put too much pressure around the circumference of the tree at any point, you’ll choke it off above that point. Any chokers or girdling ropes should be well “softened” (spread out the area where they contact the bark of the tree) so that you don’t kill it by trying to save it.

CyanoticWasp (20274

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You can get a professional arborist (tree surgeon, horticulturist) to do the staking and pegging if the trees are valuable. Or get some online directions and try it yourself.

(And do not, please, use steaks. That’s the reward for afterwards.)

gailcalled (54647

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@gailcalled . . . steaks . . . nice catch… those, if used will rot and stink the whole place, unless the critters get to them first . . .

njnyjobs (7592

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