In one embodiment, a merge process can determine a primary tree among nodes in a communication network, determine a backup tree for a protected segment of the primary tree, the backup tree having at least a portion of overlap with the primary tree, and stitch the backup tree to the primary tree for each node of the portion of overlap such that when a message is transmitted for a group according to the backup tree, each node of the portion of overlap receives a single instance of the message of the group.