Frequently asked questions

16 - Q : Is it true that hardwoods cannot straighten up and that they lose their stability?

Most trees that have not been imprisoned in the ice on the ground for several weeks will straighten up by themselves if they were not bent over too far (less than 45 degrees), but they will still need help in the form of stakes or guy wires to straighten up completely.

It is not the reaction wood that will make them straighten up, but the phenomena of phototropism and heliotropism that cause the leader at the top of the tree to reach up towards the sunlight. If the tree is bent over too far, adventitious buds will grow vertically and will eventually replace the bent leader.

Jean Lamontagne