Apple tree damage, fix?

[herrick]

Being stupid and not paying attention, I hit an apple tree with my ZTR the other day. Unfortunatly it was with the discharge side of the deck, and the angle of the tree and the fact that the gaurd is removed... yea, I cut a nice 2" deep gouge in the side of the trunk. Is there anything I can do to make sure this tree doesn't die? The trunk is probably 8-10". I'm guessing the tree is at least 15-20 years old. Not too proud of this one...

 

[PB]

Being stupid and not paying attention, I hit an apple tree with my ZTR the other day. Unfortunatly it was with the discharge side of the deck, and the angle of the tree and the fact that the gaurd is removed... yea, I cut a nice 2" deep gouge in the side of the trunk. Is there anything I can do to make sure this tree doesn't die? The trunk is probably 8-10". I'm guessing the tree is at least 15-20 years old. Not too proud of this one...

Just leave it alone, and it will most likely heal on its own if it will. Don't put tar or other wound covers that are available in the cut.