Sugar Maple - Pruning Wound/Dressing ?

[zooba72]

Hi Everyone,

I have what I believe is a large Sugar Maple and I'm concerned about its health. I noticed wood peckers poking into a wound of an old limb and when I investigated, I noticed the inside of the wound has soft spots, rot, and bugs. I'm wondering whether It's possible to clean it out, and apply some kind of a dressing or something to protect it ?

Does anyone have any suggestions on what I can do ? Thank you

Pictures below

 

[Raintree]

Leave it alone, this is why we avoid making large trunk cuts.

 

[ATH]

the best thing is to leave it open. Anything you put on it will trap moisture in there making it more attractive for insects and accelerating decay.

My more smart alec answer is: "If I could prevent that from rotting, I could prevent your deck and fence from rotting (without high temperatures and nasty chemicals). If I could do that, you couldn't afford to be having this conversation with me."

The wound on the right is probably worth having a closer look at. How deep does it go?

Also, the co-dominate trunks may be more of a threat than that decay pocket...but I might have said that 40 years ago too, and it remains.

If it fails, can that tree hit anything valuable? If so, consider hiring somebody to access it. Be very careful though who you hire. The biggest yellow page ad (does anybody still do that) for tree removals isn't who you want to call for that...I already know what their answer will be. You may end up calling them if it needs removed, and that is fine. But if you want to keep the tree, your first call is to a consultant. Look for somebody who is Tree Risk Assessment Qualified (TRAQ) in your area. https://www.treesaregood.org/findanarborist/findanarborist - do a zip code search as city search only turns up arborists with the same address, not all serving that area.

 

[buzz sawyer]

Just brainstorming a bit - What about installing some sort of temporary flap that will keep out water and woodpeckers?

 

[pdqdl]

Just brainstorming a bit - What about installing some sort of temporary flap that will keep out water and woodpeckers?

The moisture will be introduced by the tree trunk itself, and the woodpecker will not be harming the tree anyway. In general, I'd say the woodpecker is benefitting the tree by cutting down on the insects, right?

Now I believe that the only insects that will be occupying that rotting wood will be carpenter ants and wood beetles. Neither of those insects do damage to the living parts of that tree, so don't worry about the woodpecker. If the woodpecker should happen to pound a hole in the living bark of the tree, it's still just picking up a borer that will do more damage than a pecked hole in the bark.

 

[pdqdl]

Here's a woodpecker chasing carpenter ants. Is it hurting the fence?

 

[Seachaser]

I would trim the bottom so water doesn’t stand.

 

[buzz sawyer]

Here's a woodpecker chasing carpenter ants. Is it hurting the fence?

Apparently, there are no carpenter ants living inside the fence boards. I passed a live Cherry tree the other day. It had several large (5"+) woodpecker holes in it.

 

[pdqdl]

Sure, but woodpecker holes aren't made out of healthy wood. They make those holes out of the rotten stuff.

 

[barebunns]

Hi Everyone,

I have what I believe is a large Sugar Maple and I'm concerned about its health. I noticed wood peckers poking into a wound of an old limb and when I investigated, I noticed the inside of the wound has soft spots, rot, and bugs. I'm wondering whether It's possible to clean it out, and apply some kind of a dressing or something to protect it ?

Does anyone have any suggestions on what I can do ? Thank you

Pictures below

looks bad id cut it down for firewood

 

[Ethobling]

looks bad id cut it down for firewood

And send it to you, for free, no doubt?