Best knot to stake a small tree
The best knot to stake a tree is the figure-eight knot. It holds the tie to the stake without cinching down on the trunk, and it takes about five seconds to learn. I’ve staked dozens of trees over 20 years in Northern California, from 5-gallon Japanese Maples (Acer palmatum) to 15-gallon Coast Live Oaks (Quercus agrifolia), and the figure-eight has never failed me. The key is that the twist in the middle acts as a cushion between the stake and the bark. No rubbing, no girdling, no dead tree.
But a knot is only half the equation. Staking technique, tie material, and knowing when to remove the whole setup matter just as much. Get any of those wrong and you’ll do more harm than good.
What knots work best for staking trees?
Three knots cover every staking situation you’ll run into. Learn these and you’re set for life.
The figure-eight knot (best all-around)
Wrap your tie material around the stake, cross it over itself to form a figure-eight, then wrap the other loop around the trunk. The crossover point sits between the stake and the tree. That’s what makes this knot superior to everything else. The trunk never contacts the stake, and the twist absorbs movement without loosening.
Use the figure-eight any time you’re staking a young tree with broad webbing or commercial tree ties. It works on every trunk diameter from pencil-thin whips to 2-inch caliper nursery stock. The knot cinches tight on the stake side but stays loose on the trunk side, exactly what you want.
The clove hitch (best for the stake end)
A clove hitch locks a tie to a wooden or metal stake without slipping. Two wraps around the stake, with the second crossing over the first, and the tail tucked under. It grips harder the more tension you put on it.
I use a clove hitch to attach the tie to the stake, then a figure-eight loop around the trunk. This combination gives you rock-solid attachment at the stake and gentle support at the tree. If your stakes are smooth metal (like rebar or T-posts), the clove hitch is the only knot that won’t slide down.
The bowline (best when you need a fixed loop)
The bowline creates a loop that won’t tighten under load. Tie it around the trunk and you get a fixed-size loop that the tree can grow into without getting strangled. Old sailors used this knot because it was easy to untie after holding thousands of pounds.
The bowline works well when you’re using rope instead of flat webbing. Tie a bowline loop around the trunk with enough slack for two fingers between the rope and the bark. Run the free end to the stake and tie it off with a clove hitch. This setup works, but I still prefer the figure-eight with flat ties for most residential staking. The figure-eight is simpler and flat ties spread pressure better than rope.
How should you set up the stakes?
Two stakes. That’s the number. Not one, not three. Two stakes placed on opposite sides of the tree, perpendicular to the prevailing wind direction. In the Sacramento Valley, that means placing stakes roughly north and south since our strongest winds blow west to east.
Drive each stake 18 inches into the ground, about 18 inches from the trunk. Use 6-foot wooden lodge poles ($3-5 each at any hardware store) or 4-foot metal T-posts ($6-8 each). The stakes should be outside the root ball, not driven through it. I’ve seen people hammer stakes straight through the root ball of a newly planted tree. That’s like stabbing the patient during surgery.
Attach your ties about two-thirds of the way up the trunk. Not at the top. The top of the tree needs to sway freely so the trunk builds taper and strength. If you tie at the very top, the trunk below the tie point stays thin and weak. When you remove the stakes, the tree flops over because it never developed the wood fiber to hold itself up.
Here’s the critical part: the tree must be able to move. Your ties should allow 2-3 inches of trunk movement in any direction. Grab the trunk and push it gently. If it can sway, good. If it’s rigid, your ties are too tight. Loosen them. A staked tree that can’t move is worse than an unstaked tree. For more on getting young trees established right, our tree planting tips guide covers the full process from hole to first-year care.
What tie material works best?
This is where I get opinionated. I’ve tried everything over the years and there’s a clear winner.
Broad webbing or commercial tree ties ($8-15 for a roll): This is what you should use. ArborTie, Dewitt tree tie tape, or any 1-inch wide woven polypropylene tie from the garden center. The wide surface spreads pressure across the bark instead of cutting into it. These ties stretch slightly as the tree grows, giving you a buffer before they start girdling. A 50-foot roll of ArborTie costs about $12 and stakes 8-10 trees.
Wire-in-hose ($2-4 for 10 feet): The old standby. A piece of wire threaded through a short section of garden hose so the hose contacts the trunk instead of bare wire. It works. I used it for years. But the hose section tends to slip, leaving bare wire against bark. And the wire doesn’t stretch at all. If you forget to check it for one growing season, that wire will cut into the trunk like a cheese cutter. I stopped using it after losing a $45 Yoshino Cherry (Prunus x yedoensis) to wire girdling.
Old garden hose or t-shirt strips (free): Cut an old garden hose into 12-inch sections and thread your tie through them. Or tear old cotton t-shirts into 2-inch wide strips. Both work fine for the trunk-contact portion. T-shirt strips biodegrade after a year or two, which is actually a feature since they’ll fall off around the time you should be removing the stakes anyway. The downside: they look terrible.
Bare wire, twine, or zip ties: Never. All three cut into bark. Zip ties are the worst offender because they’re invisible once the bark grows over them. I’ve helped an arborist remove zip ties that were completely embedded in the trunk of a 6-year-old Crape Myrtle (Lagerstroemia indica). The tree survived but the trunk had permanent scars.
When should you remove the stakes?
After one growing season. Mark your calendar for October or November, roughly one year after planting. Walk out to the tree, untie the straps, and see if the tree stands on its own. If it does, pull the stakes. If it wobbles badly, retie loosely for one more season. Two years is the absolute maximum.
The ISA (International Society of Arboriculture) is clear on this: staking beyond two years causes more problems than it prevents. Trees staked too long develop thin trunks, shallow root systems, and a dependency on the support structure. They grow taller without growing stronger. The first windstorm after stake removal snaps them.
I have a neighbor who left stakes on a row of Italian Cypress (Cupressus sempervirens) for four years. When he finally removed them, three out of five fell over in the next storm. He spent $400 getting them replanted and restaked (properly this time). Those trees would have been fine if he’d pulled the stakes after year one.
Which trees actually need staking?
Not as many as you think. The nursery puts a stake in every container tree for transport. That doesn’t mean your tree needs one permanently.
Trees that usually need staking:
- Bare root trees planted in windy locations. If you’re planting bare root trees in an exposed spot, stake them for the first year.
- Top-heavy trees with small root balls, like 15-gallon stock with a full canopy on a thin trunk
- Trees planted in windy corridors between buildings or along hillsides
- Newly planted trees in sandy soil that shifts easily
- Standard (tree-form) roses and other grafted ornamentals with heavy tops
Trees that usually don’t need staking:
- Most 5-gallon and smaller nursery trees. They’re light enough to handle wind.
- Trees with a strong central leader and good trunk taper, like Bald Cypress (Taxodium distichum) or most oaks
- Trees planted in protected courtyards or enclosed yards
- Small trees for compact yards like Japanese Maples, Dogwoods (Cornus spp.), and Redbuds (Cercis spp.) that stay under 25 feet. Their lower center of gravity keeps them stable.
If you grab the trunk at knee height and push, does the root ball rock in the ground? Stake it. Does the root ball hold firm while the trunk flexes? Leave it alone. The trunk flex is normal and healthy.
What mistakes kill staked trees?
I’ve watched every one of these happen in my neighborhood. Most of them are easy to avoid if you know what to look for.
Ties too tight. The tie should never press into the bark. Two fingers of space between tie and trunk is the minimum. Check the ties in July when the tree is growing fastest. A tie that was loose in March can be cutting in by August.
Too many stakes. Three or four stakes around a single tree create a rigid cage that prevents all trunk movement. The tree inside looks healthy but the trunk stays the diameter of a broomstick. Two stakes is the correct number for residential trees. Orchards sometimes use a single stake for fruit trees on dwarfing rootstock, but that’s a different situation.
Stakes driven through the root ball. Place your stakes outside the root ball. Driving a stake through the roots severs major roots and creates entry points for disease. If you hit roots while driving the stake, pull it out and try a spot a few inches farther from the trunk.
Leaving stakes for years. This is the big one. I walk my neighborhood and count staked trees that clearly went in three, four, five years ago. The ties are embedded in the bark. The stakes are rotting. The tree trunk above the tie point is twice the diameter of the trunk below it, like a lollipop. That tree will snap at the tie point in a strong wind. Set a reminder on your phone for one year after planting. Go remove those stakes.
Staking a tree that doesn’t need it. A healthy nursery tree with good trunk taper and a solid root ball almost never needs staking in a sheltered yard. Unnecessary staking actually weakens the tree by preventing the trunk movement that builds structural wood. You’re spending $15-25 on stakes and ties to make your tree weaker. Save that money.
If you’re planning a bigger yard project that involves planting multiple trees, buy your staking supplies in bulk. A bundle of 25 lodge pole stakes runs about $50 at a landscape supply yard, compared to $4-5 each at the hardware store.
Quick staking checklist
- Two stakes, 18 inches from trunk, outside the root ball
- Ties at two-thirds trunk height using broad webbing or commercial tree ties
- Figure-eight knot so trunk never contacts stake
- Two fingers of space between tie and bark
- Tree can sway 2-3 inches in any direction
- Check ties in midsummer for tightness
- Remove everything after one growing season
Staking a young tree takes 10 minutes if you have the right supplies and know the right knot. The figure-eight with broad webbing on two stakes will get any small tree through its first year. After that, let the tree do its job. It knows how to grow. You just gave it a head start.