Staking Fruit Trees

Hi,

About a month ago I bought a month ago I bought and planted a semi drawf concorde pear tree.  It stands about 4 foot or so off the ground and looks fairly sturdy - should I have put a stake with it?

I also planted victoria plum tree, which is taller than the pear tree but seems to have a thinner body and stems.  Its stands about 6 foot.  Once again I did not put a stake in the ground.  Do I need to and is it too late, given that if I drive a stake into the ground next to it it could damage the roots.

Finally, I have also bought but not yet planted a Braeburn apple tree, which is thinnish like the plum tree and quite tall, above 6 foot, though I believe it is actually semi-drawf.  Should I plant this with  stake and if so, how thick should it be, should it be next to it or at an angle. And if next to it, do I eventually just saw i down as opposed to pulling it out?  If pulled out one day would this damage the roots.

Thanks a lot!

I was led to believe that by not using a stake you make the roots stronger. The tree senses that it is being buffeted by wind so send's it's root's down further.

I've planted many fruit trees in my time, and my experience says that young trees really benefit from having stakes for at least a few years. Mostly, it keeps them from tipping over in heavy wet weather (I currently have several of these leaning at 45 degrees because we forgot to put in stakes) and it helps avoid trunk snapping in high winds.

You never want to brace the tree so tightly that there's no sway or it will definitely snap in strong wind, you just need some support until the trunk is about 2" thick and can likely support itself. 2-3 stakes around the tree are superior to just one stake, and these don't have to be all that close to the trunk.

BTW, recently planted fruit trees have not yet spread out their roots so there's no danger adding stakes after the fact. It's the more mature, eg 4-5 year old trees, that can have their roots damaged by new stakes added.

For each of them I would use a stake at 45 degrees, top end pointing into the prevailing wind direction, attached to the tree with a tie (stops the bark rubbing on the stake) at about the 3' height.

These stakes are recommended for about 2 years max, I think.