[bogota]

Last dormant season, I planted 1 x Prunus serrulata 'Amanogawa' in a very sheltered location - in a tight space between an oil tank and the perimeter fencing (the run of the mill timber panel fencing you see in all new estates).

It was growing nicely - with a good spurt of growth put on it following the growing season. However, it's reaching out now above the 6ft fence level. That new growth is now taking a battering from what is a windswept area. The growth seems to have 'turned' away from the direction of the wind - and so - it's not straight like the rest of it.

My question is this;

Should I stake it in an attempt to keep it straight - or will it correct itself of it's own accord?

[Sive]

Staking can only support the tree and keep the trunk vertical.....the top growth will naturally be shaped by the prevailing wind in an exposed situation and I don't see how you can prevent that.

[tippben]

Yes, the stake is there only to stop the rootball rocking in the wind as it establishes. If you have a strong prevailing wind, the tree will grow away from it, and there is nothing you can do. If you were (hypothetically) to grow it up a very long stake, as soon as that stake was removed, the tree would flop, as it would have developed no stem strength.

[walltoall]

I speak in agreement with the comments of my colleagues Sive and Tippben. The tree will tend away from a persistant wind coming from one quarter. However, if symmetry is an issue, you can prune out growth from the downwind side as long as you know what you are doing. Over the years you will form a tree which, because it has been continuously 'forced' to use the windward side, tends to look uniform: Your particular choice of serrulata is a bit amusing if you have a good sense of humour. It is designed to grow up straight and narrow, like cherry's answer to a Lombardy Poplar but you say you live in a windswept area. I can't ever recall seeing a vertical tree in a windswept area myself. lol

[bogota]

[walltoall]

As you probably read between my lines Bogota I have previous with flowering cherries growing to monumental sizes. It is possible to root-prune cherries to force them to stay small in spite of their genes. It is a complex procedure done over a number of years, but NOT complicated. if you let your tree grow it will handle the wind reasonably well if no attempt is made to restrict it. But it's in the nature of Prunus to have brittle wood. Anytime it gets a right hammering in a storm branches may fracture and need to be cut away. The windward branches are LESS likely to break than those to lee, so the tree tends to get stronger on the weather side.

[bogota]

@walltoall: Thanks for your reply. I guess I will leave it unstaked - and see what becomes of it.