That is terrible. It's hard enough trying to find this tree. My first thought was to use tree goop mixed with seaweed liquid that I used for the wounds after pruning to see if it helps speed up recovery. (No idea if it actually works but it seemed like it callused over more quickly.)

Can you put the smart pot in the ground so the fine roots would have access to the nutrients in the ground for faster recovery? Not sure if I want to try and rip smart bag off it in the middle of the summer with that kind of condition. You will end up ripping young roots off when they're attached to the fabric as I've found out the hard way.

IMO when dealing with fabric bags is not to plant too early if the tree is that small like that relative to the size of the container. The root system is probably not full and hardened off.

Although the rodents were after (probably) late winter/early spring fodder, judging by the callus, and there is likely plenty of forage now - the only thing I would do is put a chicken wire screen around it and let it continue to form callus with no interference.

PS. I hate those bags. To me they are a "duh" for most consumers that mis-plant them.

hortster

Hortster, the damage was done about 3 weeks ago. There is plenty to eat for the rabbits. They just did this to tick me off, no doubt!

I am acclimating it to more sun underneath a cedar tree. I'm going to surround the tree with mulch for now and leave it on the east side of the tree.

I might plant it within the next month with shade cloth on the west side if temperatures look to remain around the seasonal average. I will plant no later than early September with LOTS OF WATER if not sooner. I think I'll give July a couple weeks first before putting it down in the ground.

On the flip side, the leader and a bud a foot or so below are swelling and look to push out more growth. This will be the 3rd flush this year.

Thanks for the input, gents.

John

1 MONTH UPDATE

It has flushed again and now is on its 4th flush of the growing season. The wound has a considerably thicker callus on it in just one month. I did put it under the cedar tree to expose it to some wind to thicken the trunk up. I also lightly fertilized it and put hay on top of the potting soil to block/absorb any direct sunlight while keeping a close eye on the soil moisture.

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Thanks for the update.

That's some nice healing, glad you showed us how it's doing, John.