I have a 5-6 year old GoldRush on B.118 that I noticed rocking a bit several weeks ago. During heavy gusts the soil lifts very slightly and minor cracks form. The tree was staked for the first 2-3 years, with 1/2" electrical conduit.
As far as I can tell, the tree hasn’t developed a permanent lean at all, but it continues to move the soil when there are gusts, and I’m not sure if I should be concerned. I know a stake can hinder a tree from developing strong anchoring roots, so I only want to stake if the tree is in danger. I actually grabbed a metal fence post several weeks ago when I first noticed this, with every intention to drive it in next to the tree, but then stopped when I hit roots after probing ~8" from the trunk for a safe place to sink the stake. I was hoping to tie the trunk loosely to the stake so I wouldn’t have to worry about the roots pulling out of the ground in a particularly strong gust - don’t know if I should be concerned about this, like I said, but at least I’d sleep better at night.
My question is: Is it okay for a tree to rock at all? How much is too much? It’s not rocking enough to form holes in the ground at the trunk, but enough to lift the soil a bit on the side of the tree, from the direction the wind is coming.
Since this is my first post I should introduce myself a bit. I’ve followed these forums and GardenWeb for a long time, so feel like I already know many of you. I’m a beginner backyard apple grower in Greece/Rochester, NY (upstate NY area, zone 6a/b). I have two 5-6 year old apple trees from Cummins Nursery - a GoldRush on B.118 and Sundance on G.30.
I feel like every year there’s something new to worry about and learn from. A couple years ago the GoldRush tree had borer damage at eye level in the central leader. I cleaned the damaged area and the tree appears to have healed nicely. Last year I had severe sunscald damage on the Sundance rootstock, below the graft union, so carefully removed some of the dead bark and wrapped for this past winter. It survived and seems to be much healthier this spring - last year it was very slow to leaf out. This year I’m losing sleep over the GoldRush and the wind…
Think I should try to put a single stake near the tree like I originally tried? How careful do I need to be about roots? Would you consider this a permanent stake? I never thought I’d need a stake at this point with B.118.
