It is widely known that rain tends to make ground softer, and wind pushing on trees in soft ground tends to cause said trees to fall over. This Idea is about preventing that.

First, consider the humble roofing nail. It is normally used to hold shingles onto a roof, and they have wide heads because standard asphalt-saturated shingles are made of soft-ish material that can tear around small-headed nails. The invention here requires a wide head, also.

An ordinary screw has a shape that is also called a "helix". When the screw is large-sized it is sometimes called an "auger", but the important thing here is the helical shape. We want a quite-large screw, with a head and a screw- thread that is at least 6 inches (about 15cm) in diameter, and perhaps a couple of yards/meters long. The head of this screw, a Teelix, will have an appropriate way for a tool to be used to make it turn, much like a screwdriver can turn an ordinary screw.

Now let's consider ordinary tree roots, MOST of which radiate from the base of the tree in all directions. The tree may or may not have a "tap root" that grows deeply into the ground, but every time I've seen a fallen tree and looked for a tap root, it doesn't seem to be there. It is certainly not a very large-diameter root.

Compare that to an ordinary wooden telephone pole. I've seen how deep a hole is drilled into the ground, before the pole is inserted --about 1/5 the total length of the pole is underground. Hurricanes don't generally blow telephone poles over --they will snap first, simply because they are so solidly connected to the ground.

Since we want a Treelix to last a long time, it cannot be made of ordinary steel, which rusts and eventually fails. It needs to be made of more-resistant stuff like stainless steel or titanium (both of which are also, usually, biologically inert).

So, near the base of a tree, perhaps half a yard/meter from it, we screw several Treelixes into the ground, evenly spaced around the tree. We want to MISS the major tree roots! We want the wide flat head of this device to hold tree roots down. We want the depth of ground- penetration to be the equivalent of the underground part of a telephone pole, only we are giving the tree several of these connections to the deeper ground, where even if it is soft ground, the force needed to topple the tree goes up considerably.

And so the tree will now be less likely to become a victim of bad weather, and its beauty will last longer. That's all.
-- Vernon, Sep 19 2017

Vernon's idea could be adapted for use with this other idea Bonsai_20Bullets
[normzone, Sep 19 2017]

Possible screw-head tool-fit https://ae01.alicdn...nt-b-Triangle-b.jpg
This type can probably withstand the most rotational force, and we are going to need a lot of that force to get a Treelix almost all the way into the ground. [Vernon, Sep 19 2017]

Almost the appropriate driver https://encrypted-t...v3Z1c_pYKwxKed0zqvw
Can certainly apply a lot of force to a quite-large screw, but needs to fit the screw-head, of course! [Vernon, Sep 19 2017]

This Idea was inspired by all those trees recently blown over by two hurricanes that recently hit the southern USA.
-- Vernon, Sep 19 2017


//every time I've seen a fallen tree and looked for a tap root, it doesn't seem to be there// which may indicate that the non-fallen trees had them.

Hmm. Not a bad idea, but I thought this was going to be some kind of helical tube down which the root would grow, and which would eventually rust or rot away to leave a tree with a secure helical root.
-- MaxwellBuchanan, Sep 19 2017


Trees develop the root systems they have conditioned by climate and environment, plus soil type and nutrient and water availability.

Destruction by high wind is part of the natural selection process. Those trees that aren't blown down are those most suited to their environment.

It is unwise to interfere with such natural and necessary processes in the same way that it is unwise to protect pedestrians and cyclists from motor vehicles.
-- 8th of 7, Sep 19 2017


I like the idea, I think it could be used to protect giant stately trees of special interest
-- beanangel, Sep 19 2017


A more spring-like design, and with a bit of erosion, would create a giant redwood bobble head.
-- wjt, Sep 24 2017


Bun for [wjt]
-- pertinax, Sep 24 2017



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