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edlincoln

Split Branch Salvageable

edlincoln
10 years ago

Is the split branch salvageable? What can be done about it?

(There is an apparently living branch coming off the side of the end of it.)

Comments (7)

  • brandon7 TN_zone7
    10 years ago

    "What can be done about it?"

    You can choose from the following options:
    1. Leave it alone and let nature take its course.
    2. Remove the limb at it's base using proper pruning technique (which very well may still result in rot entering the main trunk).
    3. Remove the entire tree and plant something else.
    4. Plant a replacement (or replacements) nearby, now, and remove the old tree once the replacement gets a little size.

    There's really no right or wrong choice unless the tree is near a structure or poses danger to something when the limb falls off.

  • edlincoln
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    The tree is vaguely near a garage, but the branch isn't. The other side of the tree looks quite healthy.

    I'd really like to save the tree, as a lot of trees on the property have died, and their absence has led to both loss of privacy and loss of windbreaks that protect other trees.

    Personally, I'd like to plant new trees, but it's my parents property and they never get around to it.

    Does it make a difference if the branch is cut off now or in the Spring?

  • brandon7 TN_zone7
    10 years ago

    Not really. You'll get maximum wound coverage if you are able to make the cut before growth begins in the spring. Be sure to make the cut just immediately outside the branch bark ridge and collar. Also, use the three-cut method so that damage isn't done when the limb is cut through.

  • ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
    10 years ago

    no its not salvagable ..... prune it at the next major limb/ trunk ...

    and if the rot is already there... keep pruning back.. until you get to non-rotted wood.. which MIGHT heal in time ... and if its in the main trunk.. IMHO.. the whole tree needs to go ... when would be the only issue ...

    interior wood is the superstructure of a tree ... if its rotting.. inside.. sooner or later.. as the branches continue to grow.. sooner or later.. it will collapse ... hopefully you wont be under it.. when that happens ... eh??? .. more particularly.. if you have your 67 mustang in the garage.. you might not want it hanging over that .. double eh???

    do your parents have any healthy trees??? ... lol

    yes.. plant more trees ... dont wait for the old folks to do it ... especially if you will inherit the property ....

    ken

  • edlincoln
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    I'm told the landscaper my parents use lays off all his employees who know gardening in the winter and replaces them with snowplowers...

    No, my parents appear not to have any healthy trees left. When disease killed off their Austrian Pines the surviving trees started to be destroyed by wind damage or salt spray. I think the Austrian Pines functioned as a wind brake and protected the other trees.

    I've been trying to plant trees in my parent's yard, but since I don't live there, I can't water the newly planted saplings. Also, the landscapers sometimes weed-wack my newly planted saplings. (Last summer I actually planted a Paw Paw right beneath the tree pictured above on the theory it would like the shade when it was young and would be big when this tree dies of old age...the landscapers weed whacked it. And I accidentally destroyed a tree root while trying to plant it.)

    My only confirmed tree planting successes seem to be Beach Plum and Holly.

    I'm always looking for trees that can survive with zero aftercare and ways to weed-wack proof new plantings...

  • ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
    10 years ago

    I'm always looking for trees that can survive with zero aftercare

    ==>>> then your research should revolve around FORESTRY plantings ...

    when they plant a forest.. they use a bar.. shove them in.. and walk away ...

    i cant remember where you are.. but each state has a forestry division .... google your eyes out ...

    as to weedwhip idiots... i usually never stake a plant... but i use a lot of stakes to keep the idiot on the lawnmower and weedwhip away from my plants.. and please do note.. that i am that idiot.. lol.. man when you are in the zone... its hard to see that tiny little plant there.. lol ..

    ken

  • jbraun_gw
    10 years ago

    No opinion on the limb removal.

    On the weed wacking issue here's what I do. Take a 6"-8" piece of black corregated drain pipe. Split it one one side. Pry it open as you slip it around the bottom of the newly planted tree. Remove it 2-3 years later as the tree comes close to the inside diameter of the pipe. If you forget you can girdle and kill the tree.

    As far as your landscaper goes, it's hard to keep the people with different skill sets going year round. When I was a laborer I'd always need to find a different winter job. So I eventually moved from Missouri to California.