A surveyor has damaged a tree on public property by hacking off a section of bark about 8" x 24" at the five-foot level, in order to paint the section and to drive in a nail with a pink ribbon on it. It is claimed to be "standard practice", which I find hard to believe. What is the best way to protect the injury against disease? The tree is a hemlock or fir or douglas fir - will check later if necessary.
Has the cut gone right through the bark to the wood below (seriously damaging), or just part way through (not harmful)? Can you get a photo?
i would have a hard time with that if it were my tree. why is it necessary to remove any bark to drive in a nail? first, a nail in a tree isn't good either, but a section of bark that large sounds highly inappropriate. not recommended though to put any type of dressing over wound as the chemicals in pruning paints, etc. can inhibit cell regrowth. yes, please post a picture. if this is standard practice, i would think it needs to be addressed.
You mentioned that the tree is on public property. Does Lions Bay have a parks department or an staff arborist? They should be able to tell you why the tree was tagged. If they don't know why, they may be interested to know that the tree was damaged by the surveyor.
