More cabling and bracing

Here is a much larger tree secured with a rod system (lower-middle photos). This is a method used for many years by professional arborists. There is a national standard for cabling and bracing (right) trees. Trees secured together with cables and braces should be checked at regular intervals in order to check for needed adjustments.

Despite the poor form and defects on the two trees below, cabling and bracing is not appropriate. The young live oak on the lower left should be pruned to reduce the growth rate on the right hand stem. Cabling a young specimen of a species capable of growing to a large size does not make sense; the tree will outgrow the capacity of the support system to hold it. The tree on the right has a severe defect, and roots are infected with armillaria root rot. This tree should be removed, not cabled.