# When to remove tree stakes



## Tex86 (Jun 4, 2017)

Evening everybody,

I hope everybody had a great day in the yard. I have a question..

As you can see in the picture my wife and I have a Monterray Oak. It's doing very well, but I was wondering when we should remove the stakes to help it become stable while it develops. I've read 1 growing season, but my concern is that when it gets windy, which it does in the Texas Hill Country, it sways back and forth. However, I also read that if you leave them in too long, it can actually hinder the growth of the tree.

Forgive me for the horrible landscaping and the bermuda growing through the rock, but that river rock will be gone sometime this year to be relocated. At that time my wife and I will be replacing it with something, we just haven't decided and are waiting for cooler weather!

Any suggestions?


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## dfw_pilot (Jan 28, 2017)

We had 11 trees installed/planted and all were successful. They were planted in September and I removed them in March, 18 months later.

The nursery said to give it one year, and I just waited until the spring to do it. I think their advice is correct for a tree that is several inches wide. By the looks of it, I think your tree is good to go. It is smaller, but it will also catch less wind than a larger tree.

The crazy thing is, we have people in our neighborhood that still have them on five years later...


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## Tex86 (Jun 4, 2017)

dfw_pilot said:


> We had 11 trees installed/planted and all were successful. They were planted in September and I removed them in March, 18 months later.
> 
> The nursery said to give it one year, and I just waited until the spring to do it. I think their advice is correct for a tree that is several inches wide. By the looks of it, I think your tree is good to go. It is smaller, but it will also catch less wind than a larger tree.
> 
> The crazy thing is, we have people in our neighborhood that still have them on five years later...


Good to know. I'm glad to hear someone say the same time frame. Since it's been roughly 16 months, I'll wait until Mid July to yank them out. Thanks for the help DFW!

Jeez, that's a shame. Sounds like they don't care. There's a hybrid oak down the road that is nearly 20 feet tall and still has the takes in there. I can't imagine pulling those stakes out as the roots have probably wrapped around that like an octopus.


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