Hello, I have a mature japanese maple that has lost a couple of sections of bark due to some squirrels fighting on it. Is there anything that I should do for the wounds? Also, ants are enjoying the edges of the damage, I guess the sap is still flowing. Is there anything I should do for them? And is there anything I can do to stop the squirrels short of a pellet gun?
Assuming it's otherwise healthy your tree will be fine. But you might consider treating the area with some hydrogen peroxide. If you'd like to go a step further you can create a mixture of manure compost, natural diatomaceous earth, soft rock phosphate (wood ashes are a suitable substitute). mix it in a bucket, add water until it's a paint-able slurry. The manure compost feeds the tree at the point of injury boosting health, the phosphate gives it immediate access to a source for building new plant material, and the diatomaceous earth kills/drives away bad bugs that might try to use the wound as a point of entry to chewing up your tree. You might add some liquid seaweed to the mix too. This mix will likely wash off in a good rain, just reapply it if it does. You should be able to find these ingredients fairly easily. As for the squirrels, I use a cayenne pepper spray.
