Hi all! We just bought a house and are on week two of living here. We have a gorgeous young Monkey Puzzle Tree out front, and today I noticed one of the upper branches snapped off somehow. Upon closer inspection, I saw that a whole side of the trunk was significantly damaged! I don’t recall seeing this when we bought the home so I assume the damage is new. The tree is about 5’ tall. We’re heading into fall here in the Pacific Northwest and I have no knowledge of these trees. Can I please get help with the following: 1) How in the world could damage like this happen, knowing the trunk is covered in spiked leaves?! There have been no people, kids or domestic animals messing around in the front, but we DO have deer in the front every day. 2) Will it survive? 3) Is there anything I need to do to it? Any help and advice is greatly appreciated! While it’s not my favorite tree, my husband was incredibly excited to have it. :-/
Backed over by a vehicle? On a related note if you were standing in a driveway to take the pictures it needs to be transplanted to where it will not grow out into the way over time.
No tire tracks or sign of disturbance on the ground anywhere near the tree, and it would have had to have been a truck due to it being elevated and having big rocks around it. And no, not in a driveway. There's a bunch of yard behind me, and the road is a solid 20' away with no overhead power lines. Someone in another forum speculated it might have been a buck since we have does in our yard in the mornings. Does anyone know if this damage is survivable or if I'll need to do anything as it gets cold, wet and freezing?
The broken piece is a little on the other side, not right on top of the damage. The more I look the more I’m convinced it might have been a buck. The trunk was SHREDDED, though why in the heck he’d pick a MPT is beyond me.
Where the bark is missing from the trunk does look like it was rubbed off and the white marks in the wood look like scraping.
Considering the size of the tree (approximately 5’), The fall and winter weather coming, and the deep damage to the trunk, is there anything I should do to help it, if anything can be done? Are they pretty resilient to damage like this?
