On May 4, 9:17*am, Nate Nagel wrote:
Hi all,

I've got a redbud tree (at least that's what I've been told it is) in my
front yard. *Unfortunately it is growing at an angle, hanging over the
street and actually around a streetlight. *It is a very pretty tree but
looks like hell. *I think it did this because it was competing with an
oversized elderberry bush that was left untrimmed by the previous
owners. *The redbud has two main trunks, one about 4" and the other
about 3" in diameter.

So yesterday I figured I would try to pull the tree straight and bought
some cable, clamps, and instead of a stake I bought a ground rod
figuring that a typical wooden stake wouldn't hold this tree (I have a
small ironwood in the back yard that I'm doing the same treatment to.)
I cut the ground rod in half, drove one half into the ground a few feet
away from the tree, and started setting up the cable. *Gave SWMBO a
wrench with instructions that she should tighten the cable clamps while
I was pushing the tree upright and pulling the cable taut. *I set my
back against the main trunk, held the loose end of the cable (I bought
the cable long enough that I could loop it around the ground rod and
back to the tree) took a breath, pushed, and... nothing. *The damn tree
is STIFF.

Then things got stupid. *I pulled the truck around front, tied a loop in
the cable, and dropped it over the trailer hitch. *Carefully I inched
forward, but as soon as the cable pulled taut, the ground rod bent, and
the cable slipped off of it. *(this is better than what I expected,
which was the cable snapping and whipping around. *So SWMBO was standing
well away from all this mess.) *It had a good bite in the ground, but
bent right where the clay under-soil gave way to actual topsoil, maybe
9" to a foot below the surface.

So what do I do with this tree? *it's the prettiest tree in my front
yard, but looks very ghetto as it's been allowed to grow at such an
angle. *What can I use as a stake that's stronger than a ground rod?
Rebar? *And how do I pull it without using a pickup truck (e.g. safely)
I'm thinking two cables, each with a turnbuckle in the middle,
alternately being shortened, or maybe I should just bite the bullet and
invest in a good, heavy come-along.

nate

--
replace "roosters" with "cox" to reply.http://members.cox.net/njnagel

I have no advice at all, but had to look up what a 'SWMBO' was!
Maybe it's an American thing, but I've never heard of it here in
Canada before. Good one!

KD