Pruning Wound Closure in Oak Trees - Oak Wilt

10 years ago

Hi All,

I'm considering pruning a medium-sized red oak (20ft) tree on my property in the next couple of days, as my area is currently experiencing a severe winter storm and temperatures should be below freezing for the next 48 hours. The 10-day forecast suggests that after that, temperatures will be in the 40's during the day and below freezing at night for the next week or so. Oak wilt has yet to be reported in my area, (central NY) but I'm sure it's only a matter of time, since it was reported near Albany last year.

My question is: how long are pruning wounds considered to be "fresh" enough to attract sap-feeding beetles, which would potentially allow for infection with the oak wilt fungus? I assume that nightly below-freezing temperatures will keep the beetles dormant for the next week or so, but if the wounds are still vulnerable after that, it may be overly risky to prune.

Any thoughts or suggestions would be appreciated.

Thanks

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Comments (4)

Smivies (Ontario - 5b)
10 years ago
From texasoakwilt.org...

- Always paint fresh wounds on oaks, including pruning cuts and stumps, with wound dressing or latex paint immediately after pruning or live tree removal at all times of the year.

- Clean all pruning tools with 10% bleach solution or LysolÃ¢ÂÂ¢ between sites and/or trees.

- If possible, avoid pruning or wounding of oaks during the spring (currently defined as February 1 through June 30). Reasons to prune in the spring include:
a) To accommodate public safety concerns such as hazardous limbs, traffic visibility or emergency utility line clearance.
b) To repair damaged limbs (from storms or other anomalies)
c) To remove limbs rubbing on a building or rubbing on other branches, and to raise low limbs over a street.
d) On sites where construction schedules take precedence; in this case, pruning any live tissue should only be done to accommodate required clearance.
e) Dead branch removal where live tissue is not exposed.

- Pruning for other reasons (general tree health, non-safety related clearance or thinning, etc.) should be conducted before February 1 or after June 30.

- Debris from diseased red oaks should be immediately chipped, burned or buried.
ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
10 years ago
TX isnt z5 ... so i dont know how applicable the above is ... might be correct for all i know ... though i chuckle at the suggestion.. in my z5 MI ... of a february deadline ... this year.. i would have to be dragging a ladder in 3 feet of snow ...

i am waiting for +om ....

in the mean time... where are you nfed... z5 doesnt tell us much .... its a huge area ....

ken
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Smivies (Ontario - 5b)
10 years ago
Ken....as helpful as ever.

Wisconsin says April through July. I wouldn't risk it until the summer.
nfed16
Original Author
10 years ago
Thanks for the replies.

I'm in Syracuse, NY, which is very different in terms of climate from Texas. The recommendations I found for Wisconsin, which is much more similar, say to conclude all oak pruning before March 15th.

The real question is how long pruning wounds stay "fresh", though. My area is currently buried in 2+ feet of snow with single-digit temperatures, so I highly doubt there's any risk of insect activity in the next week.

Thoughts? Thanks again.