help with a damaged dogwood

[JerseyGirl]

Hi - i am attempting to save my native georgia dogwood. I would like to know your opinion of this is possible. The tree, at the 15 foot height, has a cavity that has a top opening and a side opening. About 6 inches higher it has what looks like an old cut that is now in decay.

Since the holes are about half way up the tree - is it best to leave it alone, or cut below the cavity and allow the tree to regrow from there? or do i have other actions?

pictures are included.

thank you

concerned tree owner

 

[BayouTree]

I would recommend to leave it alone. If you were to cut the decayed piece out it looks like you would remove most of the crown of the tree. You would also leave a large wound on the tree that would probably decay as well. Judging from the pictures it doesn't look like anything would be hit if this part of the tree were to break off so the hazard risk would also be low. Many trees have wounds and decay like this and sometimes we can do more harm than good by trying to "fix" the perceived problem.

 

[MonkeyDo]

Cut out as much of the dead wood as you can and pour it full of cement.:jester:
Kiddin'!!! Don't doo that.
I would agree with the above post.

 

[Sprig]

Cut out as much of the dead wood as you can and pour it full of cement.:jester:
Kiddin'!!! Don't doo that.
I would agree with the above post.

Hello and welcome!
Yes I agree with the first reply, leave it alone unless there is danger. Trees are amazing creatures and often will recover from catastrophic damage that in some people's eyes would require action/removal/further butchering. Dogwoods are beautiful plants and are relatively hardy. If there is rot happening they will compromise its integrity in the long run, maybe there are solutions that will help it live longer and there are a few good peeps here that might help you with answers and I'm sure will chime in (eventually lol). If you could take a look at some of our oldest trees and u will see what I mean, they are built for survival!
I am not an arborist but love trees and knowlege of them, (gah, no hugging eh!) but in my experiences it is best left alone when in doubt, baring liabilies etc. etc..

And WELCOME! (x2, fI see there is another new one here too )



Serge

 

[treesquirrel]

I'm not sure about the tree's health but it looks like you live in paradise.

Nice place!

 

[treeseer]

That's dogwood canker, a slow-growing infection that grows on wounds. Do all you can to keep the tree healthy and it may last a long time.

 

[Ed Roland]

That's dogwood canker, a slow-growing infection that grows on wounds. Do all you can to keep the tree healthy and it may last a long time.

Mr. Seer, Respectfully, I think the wetting u see that is consistant with weeping is possibly dampness from another source ie, rain/irrigation persisting in the spongy necrotic wood. For a canker the size of the one suggested we would expect considerable 'flagging' in the crown. For the homeowner 'flagging' would be the considerable dieback in the crown above the canker.

:sword:

 

[Dadatwins]

Dogwood is a very hardy species that I have seen survive a lot of damage and still manage to put out flowers and leaves. That tree looks looks like is has suffered a lot of damage from old cuts or broken limbs and has a fungus problem from excesive moisture in the old cuts. If the moisure problem can not be resolved, I would start preparing a new planting site for a replacement tree. Dogwood is very slow growing so cutting below the damage will take a long time to recover.

 

[JerseyGirl]

help with a damaged dogwood - THANKS

To all that posted replies - THANK YOU

I will leave the tree alone and just remove the little bits of dead wood that come alone the way. at this time of year they are quite pretty to have in the yard.

again thank you all for you time and sharing of knowledge.

jz

 

[pbtree]

As the Beatles once said - "Let it be"...

 

[pbtree]

Oh yeah, welcome to the site! :hmm3grin2orange: