First of all happy new year to everyone. I had some work done around the house, unfortunately a log fell on my maple and split it. You can see this is the tree taken earlier in the year, the red area where it is split (not an exact illustration). The graft is below the split area. I could use grafting tape to hold it together, but what would happen later on when the tree gets bigger? Is the tree still going to be rigid, originally I was expecting a multibranched tree. I didn't think the original branching of this tree would have any problems if it wasn't hurt by accidents. Or should I cut the loss and remove half of it? Thanks.
get the contractor that broke it to buy you a new one. Grafting tape wont help with a dried or callused wound, you need to have fresh cut wet wood to be able to attempt a union of tissues.
I understand what you are saying after studying how grafting works. Sap starts to flow in 6 weeks I believe. He said he will replace it if I have problems with it.. which I believe I will due to the dormancy it is at right now. If I keep it nicely tied up would there might still be a chance it will grow back together? Sometimes parts of a tree do "weld" together over time.
no, it will not 'weld' together. it will at best become an included bark union but the dried or bark tissues dont reattach and therefore, no strength to the union. If you wanted to try grafting of a sort, you could try slicing just enough off both sides of the interior of the wound to expose living wood vs dried wood, and then wrap with grafting tape to hold the two sides together to see if they reattach. Good of the contractor to be reasonable and offer to replace it if it doesn't prosper.
I have had good luck with mending splits caused by heavy snow using grafting tape. The key is to apply the tape and mend the tree as soon as the split occurs. I have used this method successfully when splits are discovered within 24 hours if the tree is dormant. I did not not mention of when the split occurred. To me that would be the determining factor. I agree with Jimmy that it might be best to let the contractor replace the tree. Even with a fresh break the mending process could take one to two years to mend.
It's always hard for me to relate to the notion of "just get another one". Yes, get another one, but also cut away the lesser part of this young damaged "living" tree now. In six years you'll bearly be able to tell that this tree was ever injured.Cut above the split (but below that sucker). The dead portion will dry up and rot away or be reabsorbed. Note: For balance. It looks like the left part (in the picture) should go. You may need to take some weight off the far right by clipping away about a third of the far right branch. Also stake the tree for support for a year. You can see where the left branch on the right side will become the new leader.
Hi I have had good luck with my small liquidambar; I put support stick and fixed with tape, after six months live again !! Good luck Poor Owner and happy new year
I'd suspect it could be saved, if you push the split together, and put in a couple of stainless steel screws from each side to hold the two halves together. Japanese Maple never makes a huge tree, so it won't have any very huge stress on the fork. But if you do this, make sure the presence of the screws in the trunk is safely recorded, so that any person in the distant future who removes the tree, knows not to put a chainsaw through where the screws are.
Thanks for that suggestion Micheal F. Its the same reason I use aluminium nails when attaching tree number tags.
