diff --git a/.github/dependabot.yml b/.github/dependabot.yml
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..700707ce
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.github/dependabot.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,7 @@
+# https://docs.github.com/github/administering-a-repository/configuration-options-for-dependency-updates
+version: 2
+updates:
+  - package-ecosystem: "github-actions"
+    directory: "/" # Location of package manifests
+    schedule:
+      interval: "weekly"
diff --git a/src/LinkTree.jl b/src/LinkTree.jl
index f2f7a2aa..3a30cdf7 100644
--- a/src/LinkTree.jl
+++ b/src/LinkTree.jl
@@ -9,9 +9,9 @@ newempty(::Type{Data}) where {Data} = Data()
 
 A branch type that connects LinkNodes in a LinkTree
 """
-struct LinkBranch{RT, NL, Data, LenUnits} <: AbstractBranch{RT, NL}
+mutable struct LinkBranch{RT, NL, Data, LenUnits} <: AbstractBranch{RT, NL}
     name::Int
-    inout::Tuple{AbstractNode{RT, NL}, AbstractNode{RT, NL}}
+    inout::Tuple{<:AbstractNode{RT, NL}, <:AbstractNode{RT, NL}}
     length::Union{Missing, LenUnits}
     data::Data
 end
diff --git a/src/Phylo.jl b/src/Phylo.jl
index d0a3efb0..74cc6020 100644
--- a/src/Phylo.jl
+++ b/src/Phylo.jl
@@ -213,6 +213,63 @@ include("metrics.jl")
 export mrca, nodeheights
 export distance, distances, heighttoroot, heightstoroot
 
+"""
+    sort!(::AbstractTree; uselength = [if available], rev = false)
+
+Sorts the branches descending from each node by total number of descendants
+(or branch length is `uselength = true`). This creates a clearer tree for
+plotting. The process is also called "ladderizing" the tree. Use `rev = true`
+to reverse the sorting order.
+"""
+function Base.sort!(tree::T;
+                    uselength = all(haslength.(Ref(tree), getbranches(tree))),
+                    rev = false) where
+         {T <: AbstractTree{OneTree, <:Rooted}}
+    function loc!(clade::String)
+        if isleaf(tree, clade)
+            return uselength ?
+                   zero(nonmissingtype(typeof(getlength(tree,
+                                                        getinbound(tree,
+                                                                   clade))))) :
+                   1.0
+        end
+
+        sizes = uselength ?
+                [getlength(tree, child) +
+                 loc!(getnodename(tree, dst(tree, child)))
+                 for child in getoutbounds(tree, clade)] :
+                map(loc!, getchildren(tree, clade))
+        node = getnode(tree, clade)
+        if T <: LinkTree
+            node.other .= node.other[sortperm(sizes, rev = rev)]
+        elseif T <: RecursiveTree
+            node.conns .= node.conns[sortperm(sizes, rev = rev)]
+        end
+        if uselength
+            return maximum(sizes)
+        else
+            return sum(sizes) + 1.0
+        end
+    end
+
+    for root in getroots(tree)
+        loc!(getnodename(tree, root))
+    end
+
+    return tree
+end
+
+"""
+    sort(::AbstractTree; uselength = [if available], rev = false)
+
+Copies a tree and sorts its branches. See `sort!` for further details.
+"""
+function Base.sort(tree::AbstractTree;
+                   uselength = all(haslength.(Ref(tree), getbranches(tree))),
+                   rev = false)
+    return sort!(deepcopy(tree), uselength = uselength, rev = rev)
+end
+
 # Path into package
 path(path...; dir::String = "test") = joinpath(@__DIR__, "..", dir, path...)
 
diff --git a/src/RecursiveTree.jl b/src/RecursiveTree.jl
index d341ea98..1dbc99da 100644
--- a/src/RecursiveTree.jl
+++ b/src/RecursiveTree.jl
@@ -121,11 +121,7 @@ function RecursiveTree{RT, NL, NodeData, BranchData, BT, LenUnits, TD}(leafinfos
 end
 
 import Phylo.API: _prefernodeobjects, _preferbranchobjects
-_prefernodeobjects(::Type{<:RecursiveTree}) = true
-_prefernodeobjects(::Type{<:RecursiveNode}) = true
 _prefernodeobjects(::Type{<:RecursiveElt}) = true
-_preferbranchobjects(::Type{<:RecursiveTree}) = true
-_preferbranchobjects(::Type{<:RecursiveBranch}) = true
 _preferbranchobjects(::Type{<:RecursiveElt}) = true
 
 import Phylo.API: _validate!
diff --git a/src/plot.jl b/src/plot.jl
index 44617813..23852417 100644
--- a/src/plot.jl
+++ b/src/plot.jl
@@ -220,41 +220,6 @@ function _extend(tmp, x)
     return ret
 end
 
-"""
-    sort!(::AbstractTree; rev = false)
-
-Sorts the branches descending from each node by total number of
-descendants. This creates a clearer tree for plotting. The
-process is also called "ladderizing" the tree. Use `rev=true` to
-reverse the sorting order.
-"""
-function Base.sort!(tree::T; rev = false) where {T <: AbstractTree}
-    function loc!(clade::String)
-        if isleaf(tree, clade)
-            return 1
-        end
-
-        sizes = map(loc!, getchildren(tree, clade))
-        node = getnode(tree, clade)
-        if T <: LinkTree
-            node.other .= node.other[sortperm(sizes, rev = rev)]
-        elseif T <: RecursiveTree
-            node.conns .= node.conns[sortperm(sizes, rev = rev)]
-        end
-        return sum(sizes) + 1
-    end
-
-    loc!(first(nodenamefilter(isroot, tree)))
-    return tree
-end
-
-"""
-    sort(::AbstractTree; rev = false)
-
-Copies a tree and sorts its branches. See `sort!` for further details.
-"""
-Base.sort(tree::AbstractTree; rev = false) = sort!(copy(tree))
-
 function _nodedepths(tree::Phylo.AbstractTree)
     function finddepths!(clade::String)
         if !in(clade, keys(depth))
diff --git a/test/test_Phylo.jl b/test/test_Phylo.jl
index 9c665821..279b98f3 100644
--- a/test/test_Phylo.jl
+++ b/test/test_Phylo.jl
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@ module TestPhylo
 using Test
 
 using Phylo
+using Random
 
 @testset "Deprecations" begin
     t = NamedTree()
@@ -16,4 +17,18 @@ using Phylo
     @test_deprecated treenameiter(t)
 end
 
+@testset "Sort $TreeType" for TreeType in [RootedTree, Phylo.LTD{OneRoot, Float64}]
+    tree = rand(Nonultrametric{TreeType}(100))
+    @test validate!(deepcopy(tree))
+    t2 = sort(tree)
+    leaves = getleaves(t2, inorder)
+    @test maximum(getheight.(Ref(t2), leaves)) == getheight(t2, leaves[end])
+    t3 = sort(tree, uselength = false, rev = true)
+    leaves = getleaves(t3, inorder)
+    for b in getbranches(t3)
+        b.length = one(b.length)
+    end
+    @test maximum(getheight.(Ref(t3), leaves)) == getheight(t3, first(leaves))
+end
+
 end