North American Fruit Explorers mailing list at ibiblio

["Alan Haigh" <alandhaigh@gmail.com>]

The only free-standing apple trees I routinely need to stake are on M7 rootstock which does a poor job of anchoring many varieties.  Trees on this stock are supposed to stabilize after 5 or 6 years time but on some sites fail to, which is why I now prefer M111 or 106 as the chosen stock in my nursery.

 

I have found that it is often easier to tie a stake  to a strong branch than to the center of the tree when staking a tree retroactively.  This is also how I often temporarily stake transplanted bearing age fruit trees, always with just a single stake of quality 2" X 2" 8' pressure treated wood using electric tape to fasten it.  These trees are never more than 2.5" diameter and for a larger tree you'd need stronger stakes and might need 2 on both leeward (in terms of dominant wind) and opposite sides of a tree.

 

Alan Haigh, The Home Orchard Co.