Trees, Shrubs and Conifers: Canopy thinning strategy, 1 by ViburnumValley

ViburnumValley wrote:
Maackia:

Well, Bob, what kind of advice can you expect from a series of (and I use the term loosely) gentleman not from KY?

I thought that you might get some good coaching from Willis (Bill from Lombard); maybe he’s still doing lab research on method. At least he's got the good engineering sense to think through structure, meaning, and form. I’ll give you a quick off-the-cuff prototype that will resolve your concerns.

First, you'll need to dig a trench around your tree, at a distance of one foot per each year your tree has been growing there (seems like a 6' radius ought to do it, or 182.88 cm). Next, construct within this trench an 8" thick CMU foundation wall, lined with copper-impregnated geotextile fabric backed with water gel crystals. If you are able to use 32% Ni-Cr steel rebar rods to reinforce this protective device, so much the better.

Rising from the top of your new edifice, you should have a radial array of stanchions and lanyards inserted to a depth of 4.5' (minimum) anchored within a footer of 4000 psi concrete in dimension 2'x3'. These support structures shall be adjustable in a telescoping manner to accommodate the assured future growth of your Gymnocladus dioicus.

Attached to this support apparatus shall be allées of fasteners to which the suspect recalcitrant leaner shall be variously attached. Deviation from vertical should not and will not be acceptable. Spare the support rod, spoil the child.

There are multiple and several choices of materials for making these connections. Sustainability enthusiasts will favor weaves of native hemp or WSNG (warm season native grasses, abundant on the open prairie). Techno-hounds may suggest a fiber optic cable grid intermixed with the nanotubes necessary to be a multimedia center and self-sufficient energy-generating powerhouse. I’d lean towards the carbon fiber matrix used in cloaking jet fighters blended with aircraft cable, for permanence and radar invisibility.

I’d be getting started on this installation, like now. I checked the recent weather records and forecasts for western WI, and it looks you experienced some wind in past years and have occasional storms predicted in the near future as well as frequent blizzards in winter. I can tell from the photo that your tree will move in a horizontal direction if subjected to these forces.

Don’t let that happen. Don't join the illustrated former growers of unsupported coffee trees.