Last May a nearby tree uprooted and fell onto a 30 ft tall shagbark hickory. The top of the hickory was almost touching the ground. After I removed the offending tree the following day, the hickory only had a few broken branches but only stood up about 45 degrees. It has recovered a little more since then, and is currently in the condition shown in the photo below. Is there anything I can do improve its odds of returning to normal? I can reach the entire tree with a pole pruner.
Bent hickory
- Thread starter wysiwyg
- Start date
Help Support Arborist Forum:
Luztree
ArboristSite Operative
Come along the top straight and secure it straight with a metal pole and secure it straight. Leave it on for a year or too. Save that hickory
\
^^^ That . But would have done it last May. Tree has been growing that way quite a while and will be taking a "set" .
^^^ That . But would have done it last May. Tree has been growing that way quite a while and will be taking a "set" .
Luztree
ArboristSite Operative
Understood, but hickory is not sassafras. It won’t break.
I bet if nothing is done that this hickory will grow new limbs where they should be and the old top will die off. In twenty years it will take Detective Dendro to ever tell that this happened.
This tree was bent by force and the force is gone so it ought to auto correct.
If this tree was growing this way due to shading from larger trees and those larger trees or tree is now gone, it would most likely auto correct.
A little pruning in a few years to keep the old bent top suppressed may be helpful.
Some treatments could easily be worse then doing nothing at all.
Retired Certified Arborist.
This tree was bent by force and the force is gone so it ought to auto correct.
If this tree was growing this way due to shading from larger trees and those larger trees or tree is now gone, it would most likely auto correct.
A little pruning in a few years to keep the old bent top suppressed may be helpful.
Some treatments could easily be worse then doing nothing at all.
Retired Certified Arborist.
Luztree
ArboristSite Operative
If nothing is done ,in 20 years it will be a curved “s”
Thanks for the replies. I took a close up photo of the impact area, it appears there is more damage than I thought. The tree retained it's leaves above the wound all summer, so I took the wait and see route. Does this change anyone's opinion? I was thinking of topping it below the wound.
Attachments
Luztree
ArboristSite Operative
straighten it and let it heal over
As Del pointed out, trees tend to restore their natural growth habit. I wouldn't be willing to work so hard to straighten a tree as first suggested above. I'd prune the bent top using a process called "subordination". My goal would be to force the tree into a straight growth habit until the bent portion could be pruned off completely. Your closeup photo reveals a complete split in the trunk where it was bent. This type of injury might seal over, but it often becomes a source of decay or future failure. If carefully pruned for the next ten years, when that hickory becomes a 70' giant, the current leader won't even be a scar on the bark of a relatively straight trunk.
When subordinating, you cut back the tips and lateral branches where you don't wish the tree to expand its growth, and you make sure that any branches competing with a new leader are also pruned off.
That is a lot less work than any attempt to straighten, and combines the natural tendency of the tree to maintain a shape with a bit of human intervention to accelerate and improve the final outcome.
Technically trees never heal. They compartmentalize damage and hide the damage by growing new material over the injury.
I saw that too looking at the photo...Less likely to stay straight. What is the diameter of the tree? Looks maybe 6"?
I know its a little initially unappetizing, but if you cut it off at ground level just before bud break this spring, it will almost certainly sprout (called coppicing). In about 2-3 years those sprouts will be as tall as that tree is now - that's because you have an established root system feeding a new tree. It may have multiple sprouts. After the first year, cut off all but the straightest (don't worry about biggest).
It is about 6" DBH. The straightening approach is going to be very challenging as there is a tree line just off screen to the right (east), but no straight trunks to tie off to. I looked into subordinating pruning, but there aren't any branches remaining above the wound which seem to make good candidates. If topping isn't suggested, I'm leaning towards coppicing. I'm on the border of oak-hickory forest remnants with protected oak-openings within a mile and have been working for the the last 10 years to rehab the property with those habitats in mind.
