Shop Products
Houzz Logo Print
dougout_gw

pin oak damaged, will branches grow back?

dougout
9 years ago

Hello. my backyard is fairly wooded. My neighbor recently cut down some trees on his property, and some debris/trees fell onto mine, damaging my pin oaks. when his trees came down, they slid down the sides of the pin oak trunk(s), and sliced off numerous branches. there is about 1-2 inches of the branches remaining on the trunk. will these brances re-grow, or is there some method I can use to force branches to grow. right now, there are almost no branches below the 10ft height on any of the trees. I loved these trees for screening, and now there is none. Thanks!

Comments (6)

  • ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
    9 years ago

    i dont see the damage in the pic????

    regardless... you are overplanted ... removal of a damaged tree ... will not really affect the space ...

    BUT!!!! ... why not watch and learn ... it can always be taken down later ...

    a little bark injury .... rarely ... in and of itself... kills a tree ... [and it must be little since i cant see it ] ... the only issue is whether a bug will come along ... but i think that is red oak... not pin oak.. but then.. we are relying on your ID ....

    there was probably more potential damage.. nailing a birdhouse to the tree ... than this ... but i dont know ... [boy.. that really messes with scale ... unless that birdhouse is 2 feet from the ground .. or these trees are a lot bigger than my impression of the pic]

    better pic???

    whether or not a tree... re-braches down low.. is usually a function of how much sunlight gets down low ... in high canopy forests.... there usually isnt a lot of low growing branches ...

    ken

  • dougout
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    thanks. the entire area is natural, I didn't need to plant a thing. I believe the previous owner did the planting, or they're natural-don't know. hopefully the 2nd pic is better. the largest tree is about 1.5ft in diameter, and most are 30-50 ft tall. there were lower branches that have died and fallen off in the past--guess that's a function of too much shade-as you mentioned. for now, I will do nothing; I will wait until spring and see. do you know, is it possible to 'force' branches to grow? just very curious. thanks alot!

  • Toronado3800 Zone 6 St Louis
    9 years ago

    Depends on how much sun they get. More sun the more likely they are to grow back.

    Trees in the forest generally abandon their less productive lower limbs. When they are broken off it hastens the experience.

  • i_like_pi
    9 years ago

    Side Note: The fact that the branches snapped clean off like that and the bark structure suggests to me that the trees are a yellow (tulip) poplars instead of oaks. Branches with yellow poplar seed clusters can be seen in the background of the last picture. The branches of most of the oaks I've seen twist and splinter when broken green but remain attached.

  • ctnchpr
    9 years ago

    I agree with Yellow Poplar. I see nothing that looks like Red or Pin oak. The clump of trees on which the bird feeder is attached is definitely YP.

  • dougout
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    wow-all this time... would the yellow poplar have a better chance of recovering its' branches?