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Watched a 70 year old maple I've been babying for 8 years finally crack a massive branch in a thunderstorm last Tuesday.
The before was this glorious full canopy shading my whole backyard, and the after is just a jagged stub and a pile of limbs I spent 3 hours cleaning up - any tips on how to help a tree recover from a split like that without losing the whole thing?
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patricia3851d ago
Oh man that hurts to read. I'd say leave the stub for now and don't seal it with anything, trees need to heal on their own. Just clean up the torn edges with a sharp saw so water doesn't sit in the cracks. Keep an eye on it for a few seasons, if it keeps sending out new growth from the trunk you might be fine.
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john_hunt223h ago
Blew a similar wound off a maple branch last year trying to 'help' it heal with some asphalt sealer. That stuff just trapped moisture and made the whole thing weep sap for months. Ended up having to cut a bigger chunk out anyway. Learned my lesson the hard way, but at least the tree is still alive and grumpy about it. Ever accidentally made a tree situation worse with some good intentions?
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