Hi all, I bought this property about 2 years ago. The previous owners did nothing for the trees, which seems to be good and bad. I have 3 trees which need major attention and this is the 1st of them. Thanks for any help/input.
Trying to save a small oak
- Thread starter tim o
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I could not see how you ascended, but if I had to guess, I'd say you used spikes (climbers). Unless you intend to remove the tree, do not spike it. I'll let the real arborists chime in with suggested trimming/pruning.
Glad to hear that and I stand corrected. Thanks!
Toronado3800
ArboristSite Member
Not sure I'm seeing everything correctly. But for a long lived potentially large tree I'd be awful tempted to:
-research sudden oak death and see if it is in your area
-recut that rotting top lower down whenever is the right time
-seal the wound with whatever the local boys use for sudden oak death. My idea is the pruning cut is at a less than ideal angle and will take a while for the tree to encapsulate.
-research sudden oak death and see if it is in your area
-recut that rotting top lower down whenever is the right time
-seal the wound with whatever the local boys use for sudden oak death. My idea is the pruning cut is at a less than ideal angle and will take a while for the tree to encapsulate.
Fortunately, UF says sudden oak death has not killed any trees in FL yet. I have a few trees with co-dominant leaders and included bark. It wouldn't surprise me if something like that happened to this tree in the past(trees #2 and#3 are both much older and have this problem). I have read that sealing wounds is ineffective, any other thoughts on this?
C. J. Hall
ArboristSite Lurker
I think your intuition on where to cut is correct, as is your thought that rot continues further down. Depending on how much decay there is, (heart-wood might be all gone!) you can make a hammock out of duct-tape and fill the void with Great-stuff foam sealant. This will expand and give you a pretty water-proof barrier. Cut at an angle as you intended to and do some horticultural stuff to make the tree happier. Even hollow it could out-live us. It did not appear to have much of a target, but tough to tell how sturdy it will remain.
Awesome knowledge CJ thanks. I never thought about sealing a decayed portion. It makes sense that sealing it artificially where nature could not would be the next best thing. Is there a certain % of rot that you would draw the line at trying to seal and save? Also how far down this tree should I consider cutting before stopping my search for rot and starting the sealing process? Thanks again,
C. J. Hall
ArboristSite Lurker
I have stood inside several hundred year old Oaks that were completely hollow. If they have plenty of other trees to take the bite out of the wind they will usually stand through the storms. This is a Live Oak, and the wood is especially hard, and yet can handle wind. As long as it was not near my house I'd stop cutting where you just said was a good place to cut. Clean out soft debris if the decay continues below the cut, and once you have good clean edges for the great stuff to stick to, make a tape hammock 6-8 inches deep - (or you will use a lot of expensive foam!) and make a nice dome of stuff for water to run off of. If you can see the top, paint it dark grey. S.O.D. is not yet in the south-east, though something is killing Red-Oaks in TN.
Ok, I trimmed her up yesterday. It went surprisingly well, except that I learned spanish moss is very quick to clog up a chainsaw, could probably make chainsaw chaps out of it. After trimming a few branches up top I took off the trunk and then cleaned it up with a slightly sloping cut. It looks like the rot ended just above my cut. I didn't notice any left in the trunk. Some of the pictures below show the progression of rot through the trunk. I think I caught it just in time. Should I paint or seal since there is no rot showing?
The next tree you see might be my next project. Im not sure if I can even do anything with it. Its got plenty of healthy branches but looks like a fair amount of rot near that base. I think its still climbable but havent tried it, (this guess is based on the size of the tree and the fact its a fairly strong wood). I assume the rot is coming from the co dominate stems and included bark. Is it worth taking one of the stems out to save the other or is it too late for this tree? It also seems like this problem being so close the ground is going to be terminal anyway. Its not near any dwellings so I can leave it be.
The next tree you see might be my next project. Im not sure if I can even do anything with it. Its got plenty of healthy branches but looks like a fair amount of rot near that base. I think its still climbable but havent tried it, (this guess is based on the size of the tree and the fact its a fairly strong wood). I assume the rot is coming from the co dominate stems and included bark. Is it worth taking one of the stems out to save the other or is it too late for this tree? It also seems like this problem being so close the ground is going to be terminal anyway. Its not near any dwellings so I can leave it be.
C. J. Hall
ArboristSite Lurker
Use a putty knife or painters tool to remove the mushy wood. Do not be too aggressive. Just the loose stuff and spray away. Word to the wise. Only do one xan at a time and let it expand and dry. Might take a few trips to do right, otherwise can 2 mushes down can 1....
