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Straighten leaning tree

Andy-BAndy-B Posts: 7
in Problem solving
We just moved into a house and have a tree that is leaning over the drive. Is it too big to gradually straighten with some straps?  
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Posts

  • LoxleyLoxley Posts: 5,698
    I think it's grown like that for too long. Even if you could straighten it, which I doubt, the canopy structure would then be uneven!

    What are the lines girdling the trunk, and has the bark at the base been damaged by strimming?
    "What is hateful to you, do not do to your neighbour". 
  • Andy-BAndy-B Posts: 7
    The lines are from xmas lights that were wrapped around and we removed when we moved in! 

    Do you think it will be ok like it is or need removing eventually? 
  • DovefromaboveDovefromabove Posts: 88,147
    Hexagon said:
    Chop it down and it’ll grow
    back straight up from the base...?
    No don’t do that ... that won’t happen. It’ll either die of you’ll get a loaf of suckers growing up from the base making a tangled bushy mess 😱

     

    Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.





  • Andy-BAndy-B Posts: 7
    Dovefromabove said:
    Hexagon said:
    Chop it down and it’ll grow
    back straight up from the base...?
    No don’t do that ... that won’t happen. It’ll either die of you’ll get a loaf of suckers growing up from the base making a tangled bushy mess 😱

     
    I think it was a poor attempt at humour 
  • BobTheGardenerBobTheGardener Posts: 11,385
    It's a decorative crabapple, I think.  I wouldn't try to straighten it for the reasons WillDB mentioned - the canopy would then be lopsided and look very odd indeed.  It'll probably develop real character after couple of decades, left to it's own devices.  If it's in the way or you don't want crabapples falling on your drive, then it wouldn't be too big a job to replace it with something else, while it is still at this size.
    A trowel in the hand is worth a thousand lost under a bush.
  • DovefromaboveDovefromabove Posts: 88,147
    A strong prevailing wind from one direction ...?

    Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.





  • Andy-BAndy-B Posts: 7
    Dovefromabove said:
    A strong prevailing wind from one direction ...?
    No not around here, probably just poor planting
  • young codgeryoung codger Posts: 543
    I believe you could straighten the tree eventually. You would need a lot more than straps & staking though in my opinion.

    If you bought a 2nd hand lever hoist from somewhere like E bay, that would be helpful. I bought one with a 6 Tonne lifting/pulling capacity. I had tree roots to remove, and it perfonrmed the job very well. The issue is, you need something solid to anchor the lever hoist to.

    Once the tree is  staightened up, the branches of canopy can be trimmed and shaped over time.

    This is the lever hoist I got from E  bay-great tool.


  • FairygirlFairygirl Posts: 55,117
    Is it really worth that effort though? Much better to remove it and replaces it with something that's properly staked and looked after, IMO.  :)
    It clearly hasn't been staked and supported from the start, and it's never  going to look good.
    It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....



    I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
  • HelixHelix Posts: 631
    Is there any rock in the trunk now?  If there's a tiny bit then I reckon you could improve it over time, but it would be slow as can only do it very gradually.  So several years.  And the canopy would sort itself out eventually as well, perhaps with a bit of shaping. 

    I’m a lazy gardener, so I’d leave it as I don't mind wonky trees.  But if it bugs you, and given that you’ll never get it perfect, perhaps you should just replant?
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