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Should I Support Bay Tree Trunk

Martin GardenerMartin Gardener Posts: 70
in Problem solving
I have two bay tree and I live in a windy coastal area. Should I support the trunk to avoid it snapping in high winds?

Should I use a steel rod support that has no movement in it or should I use something with a little more movement in it like plastic or a bamboo cane?

Here is a photo of my bay trees  https://ibb.co/h7Vmm70
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  • Martin GardenerMartin Gardener Posts: 70
    These are my bay trees.


  • FairygirlFairygirl Posts: 55,117
    I don't see how you can successfully stake those. A cane would do no good at all  :)
    With those sorts of standards in pots, the only thing you can do is to move them somewhere sheltered.
    I'd have thought they would be fine against the house wall though. I had a similar situation at a previous house with hollies. They were fine against the wall all through our wild winters   :)

    It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....



    I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
  • DovefromaboveDovefromabove Posts: 88,147
    If the prevailing wind is coming from the right of the picture I'd move them somewhere more sheltered.  If not I think they'll be fine where they are ... just keep an eye on them.

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





  • Martin GardenerMartin Gardener Posts: 70
    Wow, thanks for the quick replies!

    I have the trees 2 years. Up until now they lived out the back and they were in a small plastic pot that they came in from the garden center. In high winds they would just fall over :smile:

    Now I have moved them to the front as I got around to putting them into my Versailles planters.

    Today we had really strong winds coming from the left hand side of the photo and the stalks were bending quite a bit to the right. So I was worried!

    @philippasmith2 When you say a full height support structure, what had you in mind? A metal pole the full height of the stalk with some cable ties to hold the stalk to the pole?

    I have lights either side of my door. What about if I tied a loop around the lights and around the stalk of the tree at the top, just before the branches for the leaves? Or would restraining at one single point like that increase the chances of the stalk snapping?


  • FairygirlFairygirl Posts: 55,117
    If they aren't tipping over, and the wind is predominantly from the left side, they should be fine just kept right against the wall they're on. 
    If you were really worried, you could move them both against that left hand wall. 
    They're unlikely to get damaged even if they do fall over. The trunks are pretty hefty on them, as they're quite nature specimens.
    The usual problem is that the soil tips out, and it wouldn't be a problem to sweep up there   ;)
    It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....



    I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
  • DovefromaboveDovefromabove Posts: 88,147
    Moving them both up against the left hand wall is a good idea @Fairygirl ... think I’d go for that 👍 

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





  • Martin GardenerMartin Gardener Posts: 70
    I want to keep them at my front door so moving to the wall wouldn't be something I'd go for. So what you folks think? Should i try protect the stalk and what's the best way? 

    My two ideas so far are a metal pole going all way up to base of the head with cable ties holding stalk to pole. Or tie something from my wall lights to the stalk.
  • FairygirlFairygirl Posts: 55,117
    I wouldn't be tying anything onto the lights. More likely to do a lot of damage - to the lights and the plants. 
    I think you're underestimating what will happen in strong winds. A top heavy standard in a pot [which is what you have ] will just tip over. A rod will do nothing to prevent  that.    :)
    I appreciate that you want them either side of the door, but it would be a temporary measure. If it's a permanently windy site, those aren't the right plants to have there. 
    It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....



    I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
  • SeahorseFriendSeahorseFriend Posts: 73
    Hi Martin, I would suggest something like a strap looped around the trunk and then nailed to the wall. I have a tree in a pot that has the tendency to catch the wind like a sail and tip over, so I've attached it to a wooden fence with a strap (though I'm not planning to leave it there long-term, just as soon as I can clear a space for it to go in the ground).
  • Martin GardenerMartin Gardener Posts: 70
    Fairygirl said:
    If it's a permanently windy site, those aren't the right plants to have there. 

    Yes in hindsight they are the wrong plants for my coastal area as I'm only 60 meters from the sea and most days it is windy. However, I really like them at the door so I'm going to give them a year a see how they hold up.

    For the last two years they were at the rear of the house and have held up well, but like I mentioned they were in smaller plastic pots so were free to fall over and therefore I had no concern of the trunk snapping.

    The Versailles planter is full with soil, so the weight of it is so great that it definitely will not topple over.  The trunk would snap first.
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