Oak tree decay/hollow

[m_n_d]

We have an oak tree (I think Swamp White Oak) with what looks like some decay at the site of a prior large branch pruning. I don't know how along ago the pruning was done, but I think years ago, and we had an arborist come about 6 months ago to prune some other branches of this tree and he didn't specifically say anything about this spot, but I was curious if this is something we should be concerned about? I'll probably have him come take another look, but I understand that oaks are generally strong and good at compartmentalizing decay, and from what I can see the tree looks otherwise pretty healthy (a couple small upper branches have no leaves, but most look good).

It's a nice tree but it is quite large and close enough to both our house and our neighbors that we want to keep it in good shape!

Also, I was told we should remove the vines growing around the base of the trunk?

 

[Raintree]

A few quick observations.
It's not a swamp white, possible black oak.
Large cut on trunk appears to have been a dead limb cut off or it was pruned many years prior.
It's very possible the lower stem below the cut has a decay column and or cavity.
It's best that the tree be inspected by an arborist who is trained in tree hazard evaluation.

 

[leaf]

I can answer the "vines" question, that is easy: Vines are parasitic, they don't help the tree they grow on (they just use it as "scaffolding" to grow higher (toward light, etc.) more "cheaply.") Removing them is basically always better for the tree.

The "decay" question, I think of as a "spectrum" and a matter "with surprises." Sometimes, often enough, it is reasonably certain that observable decay says "give up" on the tree, and cut it down before it falls down in a storm. (Although I have seen trees weather storms and then fall down the next week.) And sometimes what doesn't look like much decay is really a lot (as discovered while cutting up the tree after it has fallen down. The decay / fall the tree thing is always a guess - although some guesses, of course, are more "educated" than others.

Not long ago I had a big black oak with some observable decay where a brach had broken off and that lead had been cut back even. Upon later / recent trimming further back (which included that site), it was discovered that the main lead was but a "tube" of wood surrounding what could only be described as a large center of "soft mulch." That part of the tree showed nothing from the outside. Although there was a hint: the tree up (way up) from that lead showed leaf weakness (fewer, smaller).

 

[Tobystihl]

The tree is healing itself and will probably take many years but it will get there, trees can become hollow with old age it doesn't mean they need to be cut down. It's basic engineering knowledge that a hollow structure is stronger than a solid one. People see a cavity and immediately think it's dangerous but unless there is clear evidence that the tree is suffering then it's doing just fine
P.s, from your picture, the tree looks fine to me!

 

[TheJollyLogger]

When did hollow structures become stronger than solid ones?

 

[Tobystihl]

When did hollow structures become stronger than solid ones?

A hollow tree can withstand a lot more wind flex than a solid.

 

[TheJollyLogger]

A hollow tree can withstand a lot more wind flex than a solid.

Yall don't get too many hurricanes up there, do ya

 

[Tobystihl]

Yall don't get too many hurricanes up there, do ya

Thankfully not!

 

[TheJollyLogger]

Thankfully not!

Well, I'm just gonna say had you cleaned a couple up, you might have a different opinion on how well hollow oaks resist wind flex...

 

[Tobystihl]

Well, I'm just gonna say had you cleaned a couple up, you might have a different opinion on how well hollow oaks resist wind flex...

Fair enough bud! I'm just speaking from my own experience of 23 years professional cutting here in hurricane free Wales

 

[TheJollyLogger]

And of course lots of different types of oaks

 

[argiopeweb]

Here's a nearly live example from my yard — storm damage from Idalia that is still awaiting my attention. Prior to failure, this tree had an obvious void. The bark closed just a few feet up. I hadn't gotten to probing it as we've only been here a few months.

Photos were taken 2h45m apart in the last hours of the storm. The tree failed during the night, possibly up to 8 hours before the first pic. Note the twist progress between the two images.

 

[TheJollyLogger]

Yeah, I think that myth is busted...

 

[leaf]

I'm not exactly sure which "myth" (among many) is "busted," but if it is the proposition that trees do not become "hollow" (or turn to "mulch") in the middle or that such trees are inherently especially strong, yuh, I'd say those photos (looked at, "zoom into" them to see) demonstrate something that really happens to real trees in the real world (including thereafter breaking in a way like this tree).

That said, yes, I admit I can look out the window of the place where I am at the moment and see an otherwise large, mature black walnut tree that was split when directly hit by lightning about twenty-five or thirty years ago, which, even from where I sit, I can see right through the middle of. (Where there was wood, there is now air.) The tree is still alive, still makes some "green tennis-ball" walnuts that scatter on the ground underneath it in the fall. Since it is farther from this building than its height, I leave it and admire it, for its damaged, twisted, and yet enduring self. And that said, I know the day will come when it gets blown over.