pin oak split crotch

[Dixie1]

any thoughts on how to remedy this splitting crotch. It is about 30 foot up on the main trunk. the problem is it is growing in the middle of a parking lot so i am concerned about cars below and people if it were to break. it is a large limb, probably 20 inches in diameter. thanks!

 

[BonsaiJedi]

Removal of the split branch is the remedy. Likely even the entire tree if the decay is significant and there are cars below.

 

[Dixie1]

what about cabling/bracing? would that be an option for this problem?

 

[BonsaiJedi]

As a general rule I stay away from cabling and bracing...it is sort of an admission that the tree is unsound. If you want to go that route you should find a company in your area that is savvy with cabling and see what they think.

 

[Dixie1]

that does make sense about it "advertising" the tree is unsound. thanks!

 

[Sprig]

that does make sense about it "advertising" the tree is unsound. thanks!

Jedi me thinks is correct and, I have to agree that taking off the broken branch is the best start, I am not an arborist (yet) but I'm sure hopeful other people (qualified) will chime in. A branch that size is a major danger and I can see that danger increasing as in gains folliage (weight and windage), cannot be a good thing imo. As mentioned about cabling, I do not think that should even be considered as should/when it fail(s) there will the extra tangle to deal with and it probably would not stop it from hitting the ground/cars/people w.h.y.. Were it in the wild you could fence it or something, but considering where it is located why take a chance?

& welcome!

Serge

 

[rebelman]

I've pulled oaks together and cabled them tight similar that one. That said, I don't recomend it in this case. The ones I've done were in back yards usually deserted, with no valuable targets.

 

[treeseer]

As a general rule I stay away from cabling and bracing...it is sort of an admission that the tree is unsound. If you want to go that route you should find a company in your area that is savvy with cabling and see what they think.

this makes no sense to me. ]So then reducing a defective branch is also a similar admission, right?
Removing one codom leaves the other even higher risk. A proper cabling job will greatly reduce the risk of failure. Why would you shy away from this, reb?
Nice picture Dixie. That is a fixable tree.

 

[treeseer]

As a general rule I stay away from cabling and bracing...it is sort of an admission that the tree is unsound. If you want to go that route you should find a company in your area that is savvy with cabling and see what they think.

this makes no sense to me. ]So then reducing a defective branch is also a similar admission, right?
Removing one codom leaves the other even higher risk. A proper cabling job will greatly reduce the risk of failure. Why would you shy away from this, reb?
Nice picture Dixie. That looks like a fixable tree.

 

[Dadatwins]

That doesn't look like pin oak to me? First determine species. Then need to determine the extent of the damage before making any descision about what to do. From the amount of callous on the wound it looks like that damage has been there a long time. First step would be get up there and see how much decay is in the tree.

 

[Ed Roland]

As a general rule I stay away from cabling and bracing...it is sort of an admission that the tree is unsound. If you want to go that route you should find a company in your area that is savvy with cabling and see what they think.

Saying that cabling/bracing is an admission that the tree is unsound is a radical tree eugenic approach to preservation.

The skilled arborist learns how a tree grows and how to care for and manage it in a way that supports it's growth and development. And, just as in medicine, prescription before diagnosis is malpractice. Suggesting "removal" for every co-dominate stemmed tree or every cabling candidate is, certainly, malpractice.

Cabling and bracing is used when pruning alone can not reduce the risk of failures to reasonable levels.

Resist the urge to remove these trees and work on a science based approach to "preserve" them.

 

[BostonBull]

Thats a tough picture to tell by. Get up in it, evaluate the situation/tree. If there is no major decay I would just take the leader off. It is over a parking lot and if something freakish happens and the cable lets loose someone could get killed.

I am with Dadatwins on this one.....you sure that a Pin Oak? We are talking about Quercus Palustris right?

It looks like a Silver Maple to me, Acer Saccharinum

 

[Dadatwins]

I am leaning toward a red maple.

 

[BayouTree]

Not familiar with pin oak per sey, but this tree is definitely in the red oak group. It's hard to tell from the picture how much the tree's canopy would be thrown off by the removal of that limb, but I say the wound is already there so why not take it off.

 

[Dixie1]

Pin Oak, I promise. I know the difference between a maple and an oak. Anyway, the reason I have asked about cabling/bracing is when this portion is removed, there will be a huge gap in the tree. I know the safety of people, vehicles comes before aesthetics, but before I decide what to do I wanted to evaluate all possible options. Tree removal at this point would be way too drastic. This situation isn't that bad yet. I appreciate the input. Basically, from what I have gathered, the bracing scenario isn't a good idea because the limb can still fail with that in place, correct? We have done this on a sugar maple with the same problem and it has done really well, so far. Now, the sugar maple is a whole lot smaller than this pin oak. Anyway, thanks for the input.

 

[booboo]

It is in the red oak/black oak group. Zoom in on the photo and look at the leaf margins and twigs.

The split appears to have been there for a while (callous growth) but also appears to be very active, ie moving a lot (fresh wounding). I'm in agreement with the others who say no to cabling/bracing in this case. Why? It is a bad split and will fail eventually if left alone. Even cabled/braced properly, it may still fail at some point. So now you're into risk assessment. If you're in a yard with nothing around except some shrubs and maybe a fence, failure is probably no big deal. Yeah it might hit someone mowing the lawn or playing near it, but chances are low. Now put the same tree in a parking lot with cars and people under it all the time and chances of major property damage or injury in a failure go way up.

I say remove both of the affected leaders. If that is too drastic in terms of appearance, then remove the whole tree and replant with an appropriate species for the setting. Just my .02.

 

[Dixie1]

here is a picture of the entire tree. you can see at the top the leader splits three ways. the furtherst to the left is the one that is splitting. thankfully if we do remove it. we have a kentucky coffee tree planted on the other side to replace it if and when it comes down. thanks again.

 

[BostonBull]

That wouldnt look that bad at all with that limb off. Give it a pruning while your at it.

Keep us posted.

 

[BostonBull]

That tree just doestn have a Pin oak structure. Typically lower limbs point down, middle ones point straight out and towards the top the point up. They are also like velcro....one of my least favorite trees to work in.

I am not doubting it is in the Oak family, just hard to beleive its a Quercus Palustruis

Try to snap some close ups of the twig ends, buds, and leaves.

 

[Dixie1]

this one has been pruned to allow for more light to penetrate so the ground cover will grow, so many of the lower limbs have been removed over the years. i agree that it doesn't have the characteristic shape of younger pin oaks. this is indeed a pin oak. not just by what i say, but we had a tree inventory completed by Cross Timbers Forestry and they say so as well. here is a picture of a different pin oak featured on our campus. it doesn't have the pointed down branches either, but it is also a pin oak. glad to know someone doesn't think removing the limb will take away too much from the look of the tree. http://www.uafortsmith.edu/Arboretum/PinOak
thanks for all of the input