What exactly is being attempted here? http://imgur.com/0b6mq.jpg?

This is interesting. Are you sure the gardeners are putting them there? I notice one says “sugar” and another has the word “rice” on it.

I see some freshly cut limbs. Not sure if they are attempting to save the tree from an infestation or prevent animals from climbing up it? Maybe there is an arborist jelly here.

Maybe they are trying to weigh down the branches to make the tree spread out some more. This is just speculation, i’ve never seen anyone do that before :D

@Ame_Evil – my friend is doing exactly that, except they are using 25 lb weights instead of bags.

They are trying to train the branches to grow in a particular direction. You can see that they have trimmed some fairly major limbs. By attaching the weights to others they will encourage those branches to grow more outward rather than upward resulting in a fuller, more symmetrical, and more aesthetically pleasing way.

Thanks for all the replies, everyone! As a complete noob when it comes to tree-planting, this has been really eye-opening.

It looks like they are trying to keep cats from getting up there. lol i have no idea other than that..