Hello, I planted a centurion crabapple almost 2 years ago and it was doing fine. Today I noticed an area of the trunk about half way up from the ground has a crack or animal chewed it, and there are tiny red brown insects around the area. I covered the trunk all winter so small animals couldn't nibble on it, but looks like some other thing has compromised the trunk integrity. Could having planted it near the site of a decaying tree have anything to do with the bugs? We just had an invasion of mature carpenter ants near the front window where both the old tree and the new crabapple are planted.
That probably has a great deal to do with it. Did you use any sort of trunk sealant on the exposed wood like you would find at your local greenhouse/plant nursery? If not, the bugs had a wide open path to the part of the tree they like to eat the most. My suggestion, get rid of the decaying tree as soon as you can (this should also help you get rid of the carpenter ants if you make sure to clean them up/spray em with some sort of insect killer - there are some natural ones) and post a picture or two of the damaged area. Maybe some of our plant experts here can help you determine of it is a lost cause or if you might be able to save it yet. Also try to get some pictures of the bugs that are invading your crab apple.
Tree medical science is still in its infancy. Some folks will advise to use nothing because trees have been healing over (encapsulating) their own wounds for millions of years. My theory is mammals have been healing their own wounds for millions of years also. We've just figured out what to apply to help prevent infection. 300 years ago did we know what to apply? Sorta, maybe, then again in 1710 if you got sick the doctor might bleed you. Well, some things we apply to trees might kill them. My neighbor loves undercoating wounds on his trees. Either way, good luck. I USUALLY split the difference and apply a generous amount of "plant safe" insecticide to pruning cuts and wounds on my trees. If you run a scientific study and find Liquid Copper Fungicide or Polyurethane, Hydrogen Peroxide (ha, just a weird thing which works on humans), or wonder pixie dust really works let me know.
