Right and re-stake a young tree or shrub leaned over by storm wind, a resident's own home near Jasper, TX.

How this work is done

A documented method, so this packet comes out the same whoever does it.

Steps

1. 1. Confirm the plant is leaned, not snapped or split at the trunk, and that the root ball is still mostly seated in the ground.
2. 2. Photograph the plant as found, leaning, and note the lean angle from vertical.
3. 3. Gently right the trunk to plumb by hand, firming the loosened soil back around the root ball as it comes upright -- no prying or forcing against a resisting root ball.
4. 4. Set two or three stakes outside the root ball and tie the trunk to them with a flexible, non-abrasive tie, plumb and loose enough for the trunk to still flex in wind.
5. 5. Photograph the righted, staked plant and re-check plumb after firming the soil.

What counts as done

• Before photo of the plant leaned, with the lean angle noted
• Confirmation the trunk is not snapped or split
• After photo of the righted, staked plant standing plumb
• Site record: the exact site's name and street address, and the contact who agreed to the work

Proof is measured against these, not judged by taste.

The standard this serves

Tree Planting and Establishment. Planting a tree properly is a codified craft, and the arborists' standards are blunt about why: most young trees that die were killed at planting, by a hole dug too deep, a root ball left bound, a first summer without water. Mastery looks like trees you planted years ago still standing, which is the only measure arborists accept. The craft lives in exactly the steps this packet asks for: the wide shallow hole, the freed roots, the mulch kept off the trunk, the watering that follows. Plant one tree correctly and you know something real.