DO NOT apply paint, tar or anything else to a wound of a tree. Covering a tree wound actually seals in disease and bacteria potentially causing more harm than good. Covering a wound can also create an environment more favorable to wood decay fungus and make it harder to monitor a tree’s health.
When a tree has a wound, it repairs itself by “sealing” the wound (adding new wood over the damaged area - a process that takes years) and not by “healing” or replacing damaged tissue. Some paint-on products such as those containing petroleum, actually prevent or delay the sealing of a wound. How fast a tree covers over an injury is dictated by the species of tree, health of the tree, and size or shape of the wound. The larger the wound, the longer it takes to close and the more likely it is for the site to become a cavity. It is best, whenever possible, to avoid making large cuts on trees.
Occasionally, I am asked about the wisdom of filling tree trunk cavities with cement. While this practice might seem to be a good way to stabilize a hollowedout tree, cement actually makes the tree base unusually rigid which can overly restrict a tree’s movement in high winds. Even when cement is present in small amounts, it does nothing to resist wood decay and wood destroying insects, they just go around it. Do not fill trunk cavities with cement; tree bracing and
sometimes removal may be the best solution.
Brad Durfee
Senior Arborist
CT Licensed Arborist #S-4283
Sprigs & Twigs, Inc.
A Southeastern Connecticut Tree Services Company
When a tree has a wound, it repairs itself by “sealing” the wound (adding new wood over the damaged area - a process that takes years) and not by “healing” or replacing damaged tissue. Some paint-on products such as those containing petroleum, actually prevent or delay the sealing of a wound. How fast a tree covers over an injury is dictated by the species of tree, health of the tree, and size or shape of the wound. The larger the wound, the longer it takes to close and the more likely it is for the site to become a cavity. It is best, whenever possible, to avoid making large cuts on trees.
Occasionally, I am asked about the wisdom of filling tree trunk cavities with cement. While this practice might seem to be a good way to stabilize a hollowedout tree, cement actually makes the tree base unusually rigid which can overly restrict a tree’s movement in high winds. Even when cement is present in small amounts, it does nothing to resist wood decay and wood destroying insects, they just go around it. Do not fill trunk cavities with cement; tree bracing and
sometimes removal may be the best solution.
Brad Durfee
Senior Arborist
CT Licensed Arborist #S-4283
Sprigs & Twigs, Inc.
A Southeastern Connecticut Tree Services Company
0 comments:
Post a Comment