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Few months ago I bought a persimmon fruit tree. I didn't have any supporting materials and was in a hurry so I used some plastic hose material with metal wire and wrap around the tree like picture below and use 2 stakes to support on both sides.

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Now it is starting to rain in Dec/Jan in Pacific Northwest and I feel a bit regret. So I don't know if I am in trouble or not.

Would the tree get rotted by the moisture within the plastic wrap area? Or is this OK? If not, I will properly remove and use something else this time.

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Now that I understand your set-up is not abrasive I edited my original answer.

Yes, the direction you have your hose wrapped hold moisture right against the tree with not chance to dry. You can use a hose as you did before, just set it up as in the pictures below.

Make sure you leave it loose enough that the tree is able to sway some in the wind. Those large PNW wind storm will snap your tree in half it is being held in place to hard. This also encourages the tree to make good anchor roots of it own.

Good anchor roots will develop in the first year. Which means you will be able to take you stakes down, in fall of 2020.

I went outside to take some pictures of a better set-up. This is a recent tree to our boulevard, planted by the City of Victoria's Parks Dept. They use a rubber hose from a outdoor faucet. It is soft, it will not damage the tree, but protect if from getting damaged.

The cage around the outside is to protect the tree from getting rubbed by deer antlers. They like to use trees about this size to rub the velvet from their antlers in Fall. As well as leave scent markings for does.

(The marks on the tree are natural. It's a Stewartia tree. As they age they get nice display of peeling bark.)

Tree with stakes Close-up of hose Tree with cage

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  • The plastic I use is quite soft. I doubt that would cut into the tree though. But the moisture is always there...
    – HP.
    Commented Dec 23, 2019 at 5:24
  • The area you are covering is so big that there can be no way for it to ever dry out. You need to use something smaller, like hoses in the picture. You noticed how the pictures I took tonight look dry, where yours looks wet. I am assuming you took the pictures in the last few days. We had sun today and cloud cover yesterday and rain the previous days. That little bit of no rain was all it took to dry out. Yours being a flat surface will always cover more area. a round shape only touches in a small spot.
    – GardenGems
    Commented Dec 23, 2019 at 5:28
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The only trees I will ever support with stakes and ties are; bare root trees, mature trees that were moved to another location and trees that were blown over.

When one supports a tree it becomes just like your arm or leg that was broken and was put into a cast. Atrophy. Trees especially, NEED to move in the wind. That is what creates a supportive root system, thicker trunks, more vigorous trees. Staking really sets trees back.

I walk through parking lots and other commercial plantings of trees and I just cut the ties...and they start growing in seriousness.

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    I agree with @Stormy (and with GardenGems methods). In general, if you're going to support a newly planted tree, you should do so only loosely (using hoses like in GG's example) so that tree sways rather than whipsaws in a wind. The hoses should be tight against the tree but loosely attached to the stakes. The setups I like best show three, not two stakes. You should support the tree only for a single growing season and winter so that it roots-in well (and has added support during winter storms), then remove the supports at the beginning of the next growing season.
    – Jurp
    Commented Dec 23, 2019 at 14:08
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    I would also add, that per the OP it has been a few months and the tree is deciduous, any need for bracing would not extend into this winter.
    – James Jenkins
    Commented Dec 23, 2019 at 17:44
  • A tree without its' leaves is a stick. Sticks aren't bothered by most wind speeds. I would not stake this tree at all. Unless there is a problem with the integrity of the trunk. In your first picture with your innovative wrap, grins, there is a dark lesion? top right of the wrap? Does it look like a disease happening there? rot? The trunk bends slightly to the left in the picture right there to what looks like a lesion to me...definitely unwrap those hoses and but leave them in place in case there is a big wind. I would release the supports for an hour each day for 2 weeks. Then 2 hrs
    – stormy
    Commented Dec 30, 2019 at 1:45
  • ...releasing the supports for 2 hours for 2 weeks. 3 hours a day for 2 weeks. This is enhancing growth of the trunk, the roots and the canopy. Hard to imagine but tiny movements of the trunk because of wind or breezes are a big deal to the growth of a tree. Especially at the beginning.
    – stormy
    Commented Dec 30, 2019 at 1:49
  • I looked at your pictures again...is that tree in a pot? Planted in your yard? Why? Are you thinking of moving it again? Even if there is no bottom, that plastic has to be removed from that tree's rootball. Let's talk!
    – stormy
    Commented Dec 30, 2019 at 1:55

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