Pruning my apple and pear trees has never been my favorite task, and as a consequence it doesn’t always get done, or at least done correctly. This has resulted in quite a few of my trees having a certain unsymmetrical stance.
A few of my trees, notable one of the pear trees and the Redlove apple have always had a lean, and whilst this has not really affected yields or the tree much, I have attempted in the past to straighten them but with little success.
This year’s drought focused my minds a bit more. One of my apple trees, which whilst lop-sided was not leaning, suddenly decided to lean about 45 degrees. I suspect this was partly the apple crop, partly the lop-sided pruning and mostly the drying out of my lovely clay soil.
Picture – a very wonky apple tree
I’d previously tried staking, but as the ground dried out the stakes became loose and didn’t provide support.
Picture – pear tree with stake put in over winter – now not providing support
I felt that if I didn’t act, I would lose the 45-degree apple tree and possibly the pear. The problem with the pear is that it crops so much the weight of the fruit exaggerate the lean. With a bit of research, I found ground anchors and ratchet straps.
Picture – Ground Anchor (the spiral), ratchet strap and installation tools
These were 680mm long ground anchors rated to hold 3 tonnes. The ratchet straps were rated to hold 5 tonnes. The ground anchors are apparently removable as well, although I have yet to try this. This was probably overkill for the size of the trees. Installation was very easy, just hammer them in with a lump hammer, bolt on the fitting for the ratchet strap and then use the ratchet to straighten the tree.
So, did it work? Yes, initial results are great, and the trees have remained upright as the fruit has gown and ripened. Only time will tell if they are a permanent solution, I will leave in over winter and take off in Spring next year, hopefully the trees will remain upright.
If not, I can always use the ground anchors again.
Picture – the 45-degree apple tree once again upright
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