Small Tree Support Systems

A Technical Report from The Bartlett Tree Research Laboratories

Small trees and large shrubs with weak branch unions or codominant stems are more likely to fail during wind, snow, or ice storms. Branch unions that consist of nearly equal size branches or bark that is included between the branches are particularly prone to failure. They are known to have half of the strength of similar sized trees without these junctions. Branch union breakage can be reduced by the installation of a supplemental support system. There are two types of supplemental support systems that are appropriate for small trees – brace rods and support cables.