crutches for my tree

In my first trip to Japan I was so mesmerized with the harmony of men with nature. You can see that everywhere in the parks and temples. I love the landscape design and the thoughtful pruning and training of the tree. What especially caught my eyes were so often very old trees are propped up with supports. The supports comes in all sorts, from very simple bamboo stick to massive load-bearing timbers - always so beautiful that does not compromise the beauty of the tree.

Of all the trees on my property the old plum tree in my back yard is one of my favorite. I built a cedar lounging deck around it. When I first moved in my house I thought to myself this tree would not be on this earth for much longer. Having been in Japan (and China seeing similar tree crutches) I now have a different perspective on tree caring.

What I like about the old plum tree is it has 2 main branches on the South side that I am grateful with the shades it provides. In the summer with the fruits the weights on the two branches is considerable. I decided to fashion support for them to prolong and protect them from the overbearing weights.

My first choice of material for the support is timber bamboo. However timber bamboo is very hard to find not to say costs a prince's ransom here in the United States. While my second choice is a thin log that too is more trouble than I care or have time for. I decided to use regular 2x4 lumber. I bought two pieces of Douglas fir. Simplistically the tree crutches just need to be something the can hold the compression load. However considering windy or stormy conditions the crutches themselves can cause a lot of damage if not secured. Adjacent to the plum tree is my huge floor to ceiling wall of glass.

the cradle for the tree branches; the hole is for securing this end of the crutch to the branch with a marine grade rope

normally the prefer support is vertical - to preserve usable space on the patio i decided to anchor them to the deck; i worked out two supporting points such that both crutches has the same angle but with different lengths

it was very windy in the ensuring days after i erected the crutch - something i learnt is the crutches are like sailing rigging that they need free movement and resilience; both ends need to be able to rotate as the branches would move freely in the wind

 this is what it look like