On the whole, trees are incredibly resilient and can stand and grow for decades without outside interference. But just like animals, trees can be wounded, and a tree wound can cause lasting harm.
When a tree gets injured, be it a broken branch, cut, bug infestation, or anything else, it sustains permanent damage. Unlike animals, trees don’t have the systems to repair and deal with injuries.
The premier Almonte Springs’ Tree Service Contractor is here to help you better understand your tree and help you take care of it. Here are some things to know about tree health and how to help your tree recover from injuries.
How Does My Tree React to Wounding?
Before addressing how to deal with tree damage, it’s essential to understand how trees deal with their wounds. Trees have two ways of addressing injury: making barrier zones and compartmentalization.
Barrier Zones
A tree’s method to prevent the spread of decay after a tree wound is to create barrier zones. Essentially, this means the tree creates chemical and physical boundaries around infected areas in an attempt to stem the tide.
Usually, this is an effective way for a tree to deal with its decay, but it doesn’t always work.
Compartmentalization
Like with scars on a person, a tree will create calloused tissue around the wound. However, trees don’t ever fully heal as animals do
By compartmentalizing, trees can isolate the damaged tissue and grow new, undamaged tissue over it.
Two Steps to Help a Wounded Tree Heal
When a tree branch or tree trunk takes damage, you may wonder how you can help it heal. Fortunately, you can take these two simple steps to ensure your tree heals as efficiently as possible.
1. Pruning Cuts
Pruning is one of the most common ways to help a plant discard its dead or broken parts. Pruning cuts are effective, but you shouldn’t overutilize them. While the results can be good, pruning still places the tree under stress and removes a food source via photosynthesis.
Only cut at the collar of decaying branches and make the cut as clean as possible.
2. Allowing Space for the Tree to Repair
Letting a tree repair itself is the best way to handle most wounds. Like pruning, cutting away any damaged bark can help a tree heal.
When you cut the bark, ensure you don’t carve away any healthy parts of the tree. The easiest shape for a tree to heal is a vertically elongated oval.
What Not to Do
There are some misconceptions about how to assist a tree with healing. Filling cavities and wound dressings can impede the tree’s repair. Dressing a tree wound with tree paint limits oxygen to the tree and interferes with the formation of callus tissue.
Are your trees in good health? A tree wound may be a minor problem or could develop into something much worse.
To ensure your trees have a healthy healing process, give our team at Ray’s Tree Service a call at (407) 326-4019 for a free quote.
