OK SO I have been unfortunate enough to let this black locust tree grow wild in my backyard, thinking some shade would be nice. Two of them, actually, on the fence property line. How was I to anticipate what a mistake that was. First, they shot up incredibly tall. And their canopies are so large, that they are now leaning in opposite directions away from each other, because they really should have started out farther apart. What this has resulted in is one of the locust trees leaning toward the neighbors house, which is disturbing. It simpy grew this way, so I would have to assume the result of millions of years of evolution would not make a tree grow in such a manner that it could not hold itself up right? But I can't catch a break even then. To make things more worrisome, somewhere along the way I accidentally hit one the the lawn mower. This left a gash in the tree, exposing the heartwood... which never really closed. The tree seems healthy, and certainly grew big. But always that hole, as you can see. But I can't be lucky enough for it to stop there. Now, to add to my worries, I see this. What looks like sawdust, at the base so it appears some bugs have moved in. But what bugs? I have some pretty effective termite treatment, and granules I can use, but I definitely don't want to drill holes in the tree to pour that in, which is a technique for a dead termite stump. But this is a living tree. Will termites eat a living tree. Are they termites? I don't see any bugs, just the sawdust and maybe some holes. Here are some pictures. Never mind the large REALLY leaning branch to the left, this is one that dropped from another tree in a storm. I'm having that removed. The tree is the one circled, which is growing with a pronounced lean. Can anyone help identify what is going on at the base of it, what this is which is critical in deciding what to do. I feel like I can buy myself some much needed time, I don't have the massive funds to take this tree out right now. Thanks for advice
Oh for heavens sake, well then close this forum down if no one can give advice, we'll just all talk to arborists. Useless
People who respond here are not insured for $10,000,000 in the event of the tree falling and killing someone, if we had said it looked safe . . . Sorry, but there's just too much at stake in a case like this. You need to get serious professional advice, in person, when dealing with potentially dangerous trees. There could easily be problems that we can't see here, but which a professional inspecting in person can. They may well check the tree with methods that simply can't be done with online photos, like using ultrasound to determine the extent of decay. It's not like just identifying a shrub, or suggesting what soil conditions are best for such-and-such flower that you want to plant.
