Arborvitaes are multi-stemmed plants so when heavy, wet snow falls sticks to the foliage these stems are pulled apart. What used to be a slim, green plant suddenly resembles the Wizard of Oz scarecrow pointing in two directions. “Of course, some people go both ways.”
Such split arborvitae stems can become permanently bent and the plants inner, bare branches perpetually exposed. So it’s understandable that gardeners and homeowners want to fix these snow damaged plants as quickly as possible. But sometimes the repair does more harm than good. Eager to help, many people tie or bind these stems too tightly. These ties don’t allow for growth over time and their restoration job ends up strangling the trunks as the plant gets larger.
Foam covered wire to the rescue. This product is stiff enough to bend around a stem without knotting so that the tie can expand as the plant grows. The soft wire won’t dig into the plant tissues and a spiral can be fashioned around Arborvitae stems that pulls the plant back together firmly, without damaging it.