So. I’ve noticed that trees in forests tend to grow pretty straight and tall, while the trees in my neighbors yards need the support of poles and such.
My guess is that this is a product of natural selection, competition, and the fact that wild plants are stressed. I know that stressing the veggie plants in my garden seems to benefit them. Would whacking treelets with a stick help them grow better, you think?
Peace,
mangeorge
Yes.
GREENHOUSE AND FIELD GROWTH OF NORTHERN RED OAK SEEDLINGS INSIDE DIFFERENT TYPES OF TREESHELTERS
(Of course, that YES needs to be qualified with mutterings about possible species-to-species variations, years of experimentation, at least 150 confirmatory articles in peer review journals, and probably half a dozen other caveats as well.)
Newly planted trees are only staked to keep them from tipping over before the roots have time to extend past the rootball into the soil. Once they’ve been well rooted, it’s always suggested to remove the stakes in order for the tree to begin forming trunk tissue in response to movement by winds. Trees that are staked too long sometimes grow a heavy crown and snap off (I’ve seen this on recently planted Platanus racemosa at my Alma Mater… one of the trees snapped off just under the crown). Trees respond to stimuli and react accordingly. A little bit of sway also helps them form a stronger root system.
I wouldn’t whack them with a stick… that would cause bark damage and harm the tree. I suggest removing the stakes after a year.
Here’s a quote from the tree council of the UK:
"Further more this movement, which is transmitted through a freely moving tree, stimulates diameter growth in the trunk and major roots. So holding a tree still with a stake and ties can be doubly detrimental…
…To hold a tree steady until the new anchorage has developed only a short stake is needed - it should reach no more than one third of the height of the trunk. A simple tie at the top of the stake will reduce the most excessive swaying that would tear new roots out of the soil. If a tree grows healthily it should produce sufficient new roots in one growing season to hold the tree upright. Nevertheless it would be prudent to leave the tree with the ‘prop’ until the beginning of the second growing season after planting. At that time release the tie and gently push the tree to one side and provided the soil does not break away from around the roots, the support can be removed. By the time the next autumn storms occur the natural anchorage should have developed."
This is exactly what i’ve done, and all of my trees have remained steady and not blown over at all. It also looks a lot better to have short stakes. The stake is only there so the tree can knit itself into the soil.
I used “whacking” mostly as a metaphor, although certain crops I’ve grown (corn, tomato, and marijuana etc) did benifit from such stimulation. A gentle prodding early on encouraged a strong plant, and more vigorous whacking while flowering aided in fruit production.
So I can see how pushing on a young tree would help develop a stronger trunk, but why would it be neccessary to first tie it up to help root growth? If the roots didn’t support the baby tree, I’d think that meant the thing was growing too fast, maybe due to over-fertilization or watering.
Most trees available now are pretty large anyway, at least a couple years old. They often do show the results of being rushed.
You stake the tree after it’s transplanted because it’s come out of a pot and has a small root system, or been dug out of the ground and had its outlying roots chopped. It takes a few months for the roots to extend into the new soil and stabilize the tree. Be a shame if the wind blew it over before that could happen.
Trees grown in ground have their roots already tied into the soil. A newly planted tree from a can or box or container is just going to have all of its roots in a ball. Since the soil in the transplant hole is softer and less consolidated than that in the surrounding soil, the rootball can easily move around. And as squink says, the roots haven’t penetrated into the surrounding soil. It’s like putting a baseball bat into the ground versus a pitchfork. The bat has a small surface area to support it, but the pitch fork has 4 tines and a wider area to support it. That newly planted tree is like the bat, but the wild tree is like the pitchfork.
The newly planted tree of course eventually sends its roots out past its original rootball and knits itself in.
If a tree is lliving in a lawn, it is eating lawn fertilizer. That stuff is extremely weighted toward nitrogen content (typically 32-2-2.) That stimulates leaf growth and not much root and trunk growth.
When you walk through a forest, you’re seeing natural selection in action. You don’t see weak, crooked trees. That’s because they all fell over and died, leaving only the strong, straight trees to flourish. Nobody was around to prop them up and pamper them, and when they fell…
Only the critters of the forest know if they made a sound. 
If mangeorge falls in the forest and there is no one to hear him, is he still a Doper?
Just kidding.
Nope. He’s fertilizer. Maggot food, actually, but that sounds gross.
You did mean fall and die, right?
Trees in forests grow straight and tall because they are competing with each other for light; they are also sheltered from the elements by one another, so their growth is often very uniform (compare this with a lone tree growing on a hillside facing the sea, which will be stunted, wizened and lopsided.