This is an excerpt from a great book on tree removal and tree care. Whether in Chicago, Naperville, Bolingbrooke, Plainfield, Downers Grove, or elsewhere, these are the things you can do to care for your trees so you won’t have to call a tree service company to come remove trees. Tree removal takes place because of poor maintenance of trees, diseases, or other things that in many cases can be prevented, providing your tree with a long life. This book, called “Tree Care Handbook” by The Morton Arboretum” is a worthwhile book to read, could save you a lot of money in tree removal and tree service costs in the future with some ongoing tree maintenance! Here is the excerpt:
TRUNK WOUNDS and DECAY
When fresh wounds occur o n the trunk, the injured bark should be removed with a sharp utility knife or chisel, cutting back to healthy bark that it tight to the wood. A wound dressing is not necessary but may b applied for cosmetic purposes. If less than 25% of the bark around the trunk has been damaged the tree will probably recover in time. You will be able to observe the wound closing from the edges each year as the tree grows. When an older wound is discovered, remove the dried and loose bark back to this area where the new wood can be seen along the edges of the wound.
Many of our urban and suburban trees are subject to decay because they are more likely to be wounded than trees in native stands. Most of the wounds are caused by people – lawn mowers, automobiles, construction, and improper pruning. Naturally occurring events such as storms, fires or damage by birds and animals may also cause wounds.
Once a wound occurs, decay-causing fungi can enter heartwood, and the process begins. Trees have a unique defense. The wood around the wound begins to produce special compounds in the cells that set up a wall, or barrier, to isolate the infected area; this is called COMPARTMENTALIZATION. Once compartmentalized, discoloration and decay will spread no further unless one of the barriers is broken. Some trees can compartmentalized better than others.
In a vigorous tree, the yearly new growth produced outside the compartment continues to form and add to the sound wood, while the diameter of the cylinder of decay in the trunk gets no longer, and the tree remains sounds even increases in strength. When compartmentalization is incomplete, or if the walls are disturbed, decay will spread, and the tree may become unsafe.
Cleaning decayed wood from cavities is not recommended, since the compartment wall might be breached, and further decay of the trunk could result.
Storm-damaged branches should be immediately and properly pruned (see pruning trees). Flush cuts can lead to extensive decay.
HAZARD TREES
When is a tree a hazard? – when an inspection reveals a structural weakness and when there is a “target”. A target is someone or something which could be hurt or damaged if the tree or limb falls. Where there are people or structures or other property that coul be hamred, trees with internal decay or poor branch structure pose a threat.
WHAT TO LOOK FOR
- LARGE DEAD OR DETACHED branches
- Cavities or decayed wood
- Sign of internal decay – mushrooms at the base of the tree or carpenter ants
- Cracks or splits in the trunk where branches are attached
- Many branches arising from one point on the trunk
- Roots that have been cut or covered
- Evidence that the tree was topped in the past
- Remove the target
- Prune tree
- Cable the weak branches
- Remove the tree