Looking for "Vatreefarmer"

[TR-20XGlenn@Home]

I posted this on the BBC lounge page, but remembered you over here too, so wanted to see if you had any suggestions. Thanks in advance!


I have some really nice live oaks in my back yard. One of the things I noticed immediately upon moving in is that the construction company that built my house nicked a couple of the trees with the bulldozers / front end loaders / etc...

I know that we have a problem in my area with oak wilt, and I wanted to make sure that I don't lose my oak trees, so I took some paint and covered over the damaged bark areas as I had been told to do several years ago - always worked really well on every tree I've ever done that to in my yard to keep the bugs and funguses from attacking the exposed parts of the trees.

Yesterday, I decided to go one step further and trim some of the damaged branches. There were a few branches that looked healthy, but the ends had been damaged by the aforementioned heavy equipment, and looked like they were decaying. I took my chain saw to several of them, cut to "good" healthy portions of the branch, and sealed the ends with paint again.

However, on one that I cut, which was a small branch about chest level, right where the tree trunk split off to the left, I found a potential problem. When I cut the dead branch off even with the trunk, black stagnant looking water gushed out of the area, leaving a hole exposed. Looking into the hole, I can see it goes into the trunk of the tree, and looks a little decayed. The rest of the tree seems very healthy, but now I have this 1 1/2" x 1 1/2" hole exposed to the elements. Seeing how the ants in this area readily attack trees with holes in them, I want to seal it up.

I'm concerned with the health of the tree, especially due to the ants, but I don't want to seal the hole with something that will harm the tree.

So... tree experts or anyone with some experience - can you give me some suggestions. I don't want to lose this 50+ year old Live Oak tree from my yard.

Thanks in advance,
All the best,
Glenn

[Froggtog]

There is really not much you can do for it other than what you have already done.
The hole that you see has probably been their for a while and that was rain water you seen coming out. It is probably unsightly but it will grow out one day, well not in my or your life but it will heal itself.

[vatreefarmer]

Glenn, I'm afraid that I won't be much help on this one. I know very little about the morphology of live oaks. If live oaks are like blackgum, then a decaying center surrounded by a vibrant exterior would be normal. Do yourself a favor a have a tree surgeon check it out. I'm afraid that I just don't know much about liveoaks.

[TR-20XGlenn@Home]

Thank you both for taking the time to respond. My wife says "don't worry about it", but this is the first house I've ever owned with live oaks - and I love the way they look. I want to do everything I can to keep them healthy, particularly with the oak wilt that seems to run wild in this area.

My last house had sycamores - big, beautiful shady trees that dumped tons of leaves and those little fuzz balls all over my yard every year, making a huge mess. This house had oaks and cypress. I cut the cypress down immediatly, and the oaks look like they are doing much better since then.

I guess time will tell. Thanks again for your responses!
All the best,
Glenn