Healing bark damage

Discussion in 'Maples' started by AlainK, Feb 28, 2013.

  1. AlainK

    AlainK Renowned Contributor Forums Moderator Maple Society 10 Years

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    Hello,

    Last spring (2012), I thought this one was a goner, like others that didn't survive the weird winter we had in 2011-12, but I wanted to save it.

    I removed the dead bark until I found some "green" (cambium) with a clean sharp knife, applied copper sulphate (Bordeaux mix) diluted with water to make a kind of paint-like paste, applied it to the wound, let it dry for a couple of days, then put some wound-sealing paste I use for my bonsai.

    And apparently it worked. After one season, the tree has developped a nice, healthy scar. New buds have even appeared on growth rings that stayed dormant for years.

    Now, I'm planning to "refresh" the scar when it's active (April-May). See the photo with a lght green line.

    Another solution would be to carve and treat the dead wood, and then make a "bridge-thread" graft. Healing would be even faster, but it would require the same variety as the rootstock to be "elegant", otherwise it might bulge, or on the contrary be weak, or lead the way to other problems.
     
  2. AlainK

    AlainK Renowned Contributor Forums Moderator Maple Society 10 Years

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    Forgot the pics ^^...
     

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  3. rufretic

    rufretic Active Member

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    I'm not sure I would want to mess with it if it's doing well. In time as the tree grows, don't you think the wound is small enough that it will completely fill in? If you do decide to graft some bark on there, please follow up with pictures and let us know if it's succesful, I'm very interested to see how it goes. Good luck.
     
  4. mr.shep

    mr.shep Well-Known Member 10 Years

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    I'd cover over the wound as seen in the middle photo
    with the tree sealant. I've been a proponent of using
    tree sealants for Maples and other trees and frankly
    do not care what anyone else feels about the use of
    such a strategic and useful tool for bark repair and
    subsequent wound restoration. It is textbook or it
    used to be for us working with tree wounds to use
    a bordeaux paste prior to us using a tree sealant
    as a cover. Everything you've done should help
    this tree for the short term. The near term is that
    there is no real remedy for this tree due to the
    amount of bacteria in the rootstock itself. As
    long as you keep this tree growing in a vigorous
    state, you should okay but when this tree stops
    or slows down in its rate of setting out new vegetative
    buds there is a strong likelihood that this tree will
    start its final period of decline that it will not recover
    from.

    I would not graft over this rootstock since the disease
    issue can be seen in the rootstock itself. The graft
    is not to my liking but it was not the graft that is your
    problem as there is a healing where the scionwood
    and the rootstock wood have co-joined together. The
    issue is the rootstock from just under the graft that
    has a bacterial disease that left unheeded will in
    time be the main cause for the demise of this tree.
    In other words any time you have a bark split in the
    understock below the graft due to a pathogen, this
    is the precursor for the fungal alboatrum in the plant
    to in time, no matter if the tree stresses or not, lead
    to the overall collapse of the tree usually in a three
    year decline for us here. Sometimes as long as a five
    year decline in a cooler region than ours.

    Also, in your attempt to help this tree along I suggest
    you either pot this tree in a much deeper container or
    better yet plant it in the ground. Keeping the roots
    so confined, while working on the bark wound, to such
    a small area can lead to a stress that this tree does
    not need at this time. The more vigor you can impart
    into this tree or allow the tree to generate on its own,
    the better chance you can help this tree for the long
    term.

    Jim
     
  5. AlainK

    AlainK Renowned Contributor Forums Moderator Maple Society 10 Years

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    Thank you very much for this very detailed explanation.
     
  6. AlainK

    AlainK Renowned Contributor Forums Moderator Maple Society 10 Years

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    I didn't work on the scar as I had planned to, but the wound is healing. Here's a pic taken today (sorry for the poor quality):
     

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  7. AlainK

    AlainK Renowned Contributor Forums Moderator Maple Society 10 Years

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    Update: the wound is almost sealed.
     

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  8. AlainK

    AlainK Renowned Contributor Forums Moderator Maple Society 10 Years

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    June 2018:

    acerp_atro-dis02_180627b.jpg
     
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  9. emery

    emery Renowned Contributor Maple Society 10 Years

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    And the peanut gallery breaks into spontaneous (if scattered) applause! :)
     
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