I’ve seen a few pictures of folks using twine to train their central leaders to grow in a specific direction. This is brilliant and I’m curious what you you are sticking in the ground to hold them in place? I have an apple that would greatly benefit from this awesome concept! Just out of curiosity how long do you typically need to keep the limb tied down to get it to stay where you want it? Thanks again for for the awesome info!
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I did this on a couple of my trees last spring. I just took some branches from my pruning pile and cut stakes about as thick as my thumb. I drove them in the ground at an angle so the twine would not slip off of the top of the stake.
Thanks derby! As soon as the ground thaws I’m going to go try this out. How long do you typically keep your trees tied down?
I put mine on in the spring and took them off this fall. Others here with much more experience may have more detailed information.
I leave mine on until they will stay in place. Usually 6 months to 1 year. Instead of twine I use 17ga elactric fence wire. Wire in most cases can be attached to another part of the tree without the need to add attachment stakes. Bill
Your ground is frozen in Atlanta?! It’s getting to be late in the day now, but I’d be surprised if it’s too frozen to put a stake in. Tomorrow will be warmer. Even if you have a cold, crusty top on your soil, if it’s too hard to put a stake in, then I think you’re more likely to be hitting a rock than frozen ground.
I’m NE of you in central SC and my ground hasn’t been freezing. I understand that it’s warmer where I am, but is the difference between here and there really that great?
My grandmother usually weights them down with a milk jug full of water. Seems to do the trick.
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