Nest in azalea standard girdled with green tape-ironic, huh??

There is a myth that green plastic nursery tape cannot hurt a plant as it “just stretches as the plant grows”.  It has its limits, believe me . Let’s focus on trees as defenseless victims of  ”forgotten” green tape.  Most are grown by being tied to stakes, very tightly, as if they were going to try to escape. They go from being tied to little stakes to being tied to bigger stakes and often times, by the time the stakes are to be changed or removed, the green tape has reached its limits and has ‘grown’ into the bark of the tree. This is called “included bark”. Sometimes it ‘grows’ into the crotches of the branches, essentially separating the branch from its parent branch (the trunk or the nearest bigger branch.)  And, although it looks like you can just pull the tape out, (or clip off the ends so no one else sees it),  the damage has already been done. The slightest pressure on the branch separated from its parent by hidden tape (or old labels, or wire from some kinds of tags, or string) and off it comes, taking another part of the tree with it, many times with fatal damage. It has no choice but to die–in agony. OK, maybe that sounds a bit extreme, but do you know for sure that they don’t die in agony?  Read the rest of this entry »