Plastic wrap on wounds.

[Liat Rmoh]

I was at another tree forum, in an argument about putting plastic wrap(like Saran wrap) around the trunk of a small tree that had been scratched repeatedly by a cat. My argument was that it would help protect the wound from diseases and insects as well as help the tree retain some moisture, and function as a temporary layer of bark. My reasoning behind this was that I have seen this done to the same kind of tree(crabapple) for damage that rabbits had done to the lower trunk by chewing on it. The person that did this was a horticulturalist friend of mine that has been working with trees for over 30 years. The tree survived and is in good health now.

The other people on the forum were arguing that all sealants of any kind are bad for trees, and are around only because people like to use them. They also said that extensive research has been done with sealants ,which I believe, proving that they were all harmful to trees, I don't believe this. They also said science and research should come before personal testimony, basically throwing my experiance out the window.

So what would be the proper way of treating a wound on a tree, if you would treat it at all? If nothing should be done, then is wrapping an old remedy, or something that is just not widely accepted? I'm sorry for writing so much, I just wanted to get my point acrossed.

 

[John Paul Sanborn]

WHat you are relating as experiance is anecdotal eveidance. Where the much quoted wound sealer study, done by Shigo et al, used hundreds of trees and was based on statistical evidance.

They were trying to find what the best sealer was, not determine if they were any good at all. We had been useingthem for ages so they must be sound practice after all.

After all this they found that there was no increase in wound closure in treated vs untreated wounds. Also they found that for up to seven years there was a "statisticly significant" greated insidaces in decay with trees that were treated.

I fould use your method if the wounds were4 fresh and it wer possible to graft the shreaded bark together. I've done this with duct tape.

Here are a few reasons I would not use your method;

1. mosit areas can benefit detrimental fungi
2. moisture can stimulate epicormic rootin
3. the lenticles in th good bark cannot breath
4. wound wood production (healing or better yet wound closure) will take palece anyways.
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[Liat Rmoh]

Thank you for shedding some light on the subject, I'm glad someone can give me straight answers.

 

[treeclimber165]

Welcome, taiL.
I'm surprised you could read JPS's post without your translator. Some nights his posts give me a headache trying to figure out what he's trying to type. But his info is sound.

 

[Kneejerk Bombas]

Well, I have to disagree with JPS, again.
Shigo's sealer research was done with pruning paints.
There is now research that shows wrapping the wound with plastic wrap actually speeds wound closure considerably. One possible explaination is the wrap holds eythelene close to the wounded area.
The application method I saw was wraping the trunk then holding it in place with duct tape. Remove after a month or two.
More importantly, how are you going to keep the cat off the tree in the future?

Brian, what's wrong, you don't read Johnbonics?

 

[Tom Dunlap]

Johnbonics!!! LMAO...

Mike's right, there was an research project written up in the Journal of Arboriculture some time ago that showed the benfits of using Saran wrap. You should look in the Search portion of the ISA sight or contact the ISA office to get a copy of the article.

I'm sure that some kind of cat repellant could be spread around the trees or sprayed inside one of the layers of Saran wrap. Just sprinkling any kind of ground pepper on the ground should work too.

Tom

 

[John Paul Sanborn]

My fingers are too big for the key board

As I said, i would use it for fresh wounds, and have done similar applications.

If the wound is older and dried out, I feel the efficacy would not be there to risk the chance of aiding the colonization of necrotic pathogens.

I remeber reading the Saran Wrap paper wich justified my usage of tape and things with fresh buck-rub wounds. I should have expanded there. If I remember right they did the wrap shortly after the wounding.

 

[M.D. Vaden]

Maybe TIME would be a good tool.

For now, we realize that tree wounds do very well when left unpainted, or unwrapped.

I like the way that Shigo did his experiment. It was with hundreds of trees over a period of time.

If a plastic wrap did have benefits, I'd like to wait until after some time passed.

We provide designs in that fashion too. We do not include new plant varieties that we have not been able to observe for a period of years.


Mario Vaden
Designer / Arborist
Beaverton, Oregon

 

[Stumper]

There was a scientific study done between the World Wars that showed benefits in using a Lanolin, linseed oil, beeswax and turpentine blend. The conclusion of the multi year study was that the sealer did have benefits but not enough to justify the time involved in preparing and applying it. Sorry, I can't remember which university was involved in the study.

 

[Kneejerk Bombas]

I'm going to go off topic, just this once, to mention a product I use on my cat called Soft Paws. It is a little rubber boot that fits right over each of the cat's nails. A little crazy glue, and no scratching for about two months.
They are humane and effective. The silly cat couldn't catch a bird if it flew in it's mouth. My leather recliner is unscratched.
Just a thought.
Or, you could crazy glue the cat to the recliner...

 

[John Paul Sanborn]

That does sound a lot better then cutting all it's finger tips off, er...I mean declawing

 

[baumgrenze]

I registered so that I could share this. As a retired chemist, I know that there is a difference between Saran Wrap (polyvinylidene chloride) and other clear wraps (polyethylene, etc.). Saran is significantly less oxygen permeable. If someone said he used Saran (and really meant it) you'd be confounding anecdotal evidence by using something that looks the same but really isn't.

 

[BlueRidgeMark]

Thanks for taking the time to register and give us some addtional info!

 

[baumgrenze]

I found this searching my posts today. I now know more than I did then. In the USA, SC Johnson acquired Dow's trademarks and changed Saran Wrap from polyvinylidene chloride to polyethylene. Their product differs only in name in the USA.

However, see:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saran_(plastic)

In Japan, Dow's trademark rights in Saran Wrap were assigned to Asahi Kasei, which has gone back to using polyvinylidene chloride.[11]

baumgrenze

I registered so that I could share this. As a retired chemist, I know that there is a difference between Saran Wrap (polyvinylidene chloride) and other clear wraps (polyethylene, etc.). Saran is significantly less oxygen permeable. If someone said he used Saran (and really meant it) you'd be confounding anecdotal evidence by using something that looks the same but really isn't.