My Manitoba maple tree has a trunk about seven feet high, at which point it splits into three limbs extending upwards. At the point where it splits there is a large bowllike hole (filled with mushy rot). Can this tree be repaired by filling this cavity with something like cement or asphalt?

If the tree is close to your house, it might be better to have it removed for safety. If you try to fix it, I can see a problem with your homeowners insurance cropping up later if anything happens, like a whole rotten limb breaks off. A lot of the old timers used to fix trees this way using bricks or cement, it works better on a hole on the side of a tree like one that's been hit by a car, or a hollow where a limb has been removed. The heartwood of a tree is no longer alive, only the thin layer on the outside of the bark is. So you could repair it but you have to make sure the water drains away from this "bowl"

The previous owner of our property was dutch and an avid gardener. I noticed he repaired a maple tree, fairly old, that had been damaged by lightning with cement and bolts and wire (to draw the two pieces together). We have been here for l0 years and its still intact. I guess it works. Not the first time I have seen a tree repaired with cement.

I do it all the time. You will need tree wound dressing and Rockite (An expansion cement). Rockite is available in a couple of small sizes in a hardware store (Red box). It mixes well in a cut off bleach bottle.

It's important to clean everything out and dry it out. Make sure your patch won't allow water to collect in the tree. Then pait with tree wound dressing (2 coats, follow instructions), Patch with Rockite. Let thouroly dry over a few days and paint again with two coats of tree wound dressing.

You have gotten great advice already. I would just add tha you probably need the cabling that was mentioned just as much as repairing the rotten area. From your description it sounds like the next problem is going to be splitting from the stress the 3 limbs are causing, especially with the weakened area in the center. The comment about insurance is pertinent too, if it is near the house.

Please tell me how I can repair my maple tree? It has a hole in the trunk from another tree that grew out of it and that stumped rotted , now my beautiful maple has a hole in the trunk.. how can I keep my tree from weeping and crying.. I like to save my tree.. can I fill the hole with anything ?the tree look healthy.. winter is just around the corner, I sprayed the hole with the stuff you put on trees after they have been pruned

please tell me how i can repair my maple tree? it has a hole in the trunk from another tree that grew out of it and that stumped rotted , now my beautiful maple has a hole in the trunk.. how can i keep my tree from weeping and crying .. i like to save my tree..can i fill the hole with anything ?the tree look healthy .. winter is just around the corner, i sprayed the hole with the stuff you put on trees after they have been pruned

Emily, you should have posted this as a separate issue, but to answer your question. It can be repaired with something as simple as cement.

Tick

Thank you tickles,do i dry out the hole ?do i put a bandage in it , explain more please. Emily , mi..

No, emily, you just fill the hole with cement.

Tick

Tick:

The hole needs to be cleaned out. You can't have disease in there.
Wet just prior to patching is OK.

As I said earlier, expansion cement works much better. Instead of shrinking when it dries, it expands making the patch stronger.

If you want the repair to last, you HAVE to use tree wound dressing or car spray undercoating at least on the outside. I am infavor of using it on the inside too. Reason being is that once the normal cement cracks, you now have an area that can be penetrated from insects. You don't want that. Protect before patching.

Monitor that patch a couple of times a year and fix is necessary and repair if necessary.

I mentioned Rockite expansion cement. Probably difficult to use for big wounds like a couple of cubic feet.

Yes, KISS, do agree with you regarding the prep. My method, is at best, a slash and burn type thing that has worked for me in the past.

OP should follow your directions.

I just get up there with a pail and trowel :eek: and go to work. My old tree must be at least l50 years old and has withstood my administrations over the years. He and I have an agreement.

Thanks

Tick

Thank you tickles,I appreciate the information.. and KeepItSimpleStupid, thank you also for information,Emily_68

My maple tree as I said awhile back, has a hole in the trunk of the tree, inside the hole is wet .do I still fill the hole with cement?do I dry it out wrap something inside the hole, I don't want to kill my tree.:confused:

Hard Drive crashed. Not fully functional yet.

As I said before, you want to make sure your not burrying insects there. It's going to have to be wet when applying the patching compound.

Pay aattention to the edges. This is where you should apply some extra protection (tree wound dressing or car undercoating) within a few inches of the inside and within about 3/4" on the outside before applying the cement. You'll do it after it dries too. This is to keep the insects from finding the voids. Then keep an eye on that area .

As I said, I use Rockite Rockite, For Anchoring Cement and Patching, water based structural anchoring cement compond, for anchoring,bolts,fastenings,fixings (http://www.rockite.com/) Its aparently available in what I think 50 lb pails too. The

no, emily, you just fill the hole with cement.

tick

Wrong, using cement does not let the tree bend and is toxic to the plant. This old-time thinking is actually more harmful to the plant than just simply letting it alone. Trying to scrape the hole and cutting to drain the water away is even more damaging. You do not give good advise for the health of the tree. If you need more information on this go to- a person who knows trees. When a tree is wounded, its uses a natural defense mechanism called "compartmentalization" to create both a physical and a chemical barrier between the wound wood and the rest of the tree. The exact nature of this barrier is not yet fully understood but is apparently is related to toxic phenols that are produced by the tree at the site of injury. These chemicals help the tree to establish boundaries that reduce the spread of pathogens to uninjured parts of the tree. Compartmentalization is under moderate to strong genetic control. And, the ability of microorganisms to compete successfully with others and to spread within the compartments is also under genetic control. As a result there is a lot of variation between different species of trees in how well they compartmentalize wounds.

Wrong, using cement does not let the tree bend and is toxic to the plant. s.

Our house and gardens were owned previously by a Dutch gardener, aborday. He is the one who repaired Maple trees when struck by lightening with cement. A very old way of fixing a tree but it worked. I do agree its toxic and probably more so years ago when a lot more lime was used in cement. If this was the only way I could repair a tree if it happened again, this is the way I would do it actually.

Tick

I just had my maple tree repaired. It had a hole in the trunk about 20 feet up that was so deep I was afraid it would fall. We dug out all the loose stuff, including some grubs and bugs to the point where it was solid wood. Then we sunk eyebolts into the top and bottom of the gash in the tree, enough to more than hold the weight of the tree. Next, we tacked screen around the inside of the gash to support the cement, and then we put Rocktite inside the gash to fill it up. And, we used cement dye to color the surface of the cement brown. The color doesn't match the tree, but it looks like it's just a wound and the tree looks good. I think it will last quite a while, and when it does fall, the chain setup is stronger than the other side of the tree, so it will be away from the house instead of on top of it. Rocktite is difficult to find, I had to find it online. Lowe's and Home Depot didn't know what I was talking about, and it's pretty expensive, but it did a good job.

Hi, DLee, your advice is excellent but attached to an old thread where the OP may not be back. You really must check the dates, but stick around to offer more advice.

Tick

Nice repair especially the coloring. Generally, I don't care about the color, but do cover the repair with wound dressing so it's black rather than grey. Never had to do the support thing with the screen. My local True Value hardware store sells Rockite.

I have been told to use multiple cans of aeorosol foam for this type of job because of potentially large holes in a very tall another story taller than my two story home) maple in which racoons family of 9 have (until recently) lived. Is foam better than expansion cement?

Wow, you've gotten the exact wrong advice from just about everyone in here. Check this out:

"People used to fill cavities with bricks, cement or asphalt, but today we know that these materials are very abrasive. Natural tree movements, such as swaying and twisting, rub the inside surface of the tree cavity against the filling, further weakening the tree's defensive walls and allowing decay to expand. In addition, we know that these materials do not allow the tree to bend and therefore renders the tree more susceptible to storm damage. Also, because of these tree movements the cavity-filling materials do not bond with wood. Gaps are often the result and these gaps frequently trap water. This dark and moist environment allows decay fungi to proliferate.

Many early "tree surgeons" used to drill holes in the tree into the bottom of the cavity in order to facilitate water removal. We now know that any cut, drilled hole or tube installed will cause more damage to the protective walls, which leads to further decay. Biologically, there is no reason to drain water from the cavity. Draining a cavity allows fast-growing, oxygen-requiring fungi to invade. Water-saturated wood has little oxygen present and is inhabited by slow-growing organisms.

How should trees with cavities be treated? Recent research shows that it is better to leave the cavity open - remember no type of drainage, sterilization, fill material, wound paint, or scraping treatment stops decay - and simply take the necessary measures required to improve the overall health of the tree. A healthy tree has the strength to compartmentalize and wall-off decay.

I would fertilize the tree with 10-10-10 fertilizer at the rate of 1 lb per inch of trunk diameter scattered around the tree and watered in good. I would do this now and again in late summer. This will increase the health of the tree and help in speeding up the healing of the wound.

Hi steve, being diplomatic here about advice from others goes a long way. However, this thread goes back to 2008 so I would imagine the OP has already 'dressed' his tree and it is either dead or completely healed by now.

Tick

Don't put cement in that tree! That is an ignorant and discredited practice. The tree moves, the cement doesn't, it will beat its insides up against the cement and die faster. You can make a roof over the hole to keep water out and that's the best you can do. Clean it out first.

I have a bifurcation at the base of the maple tree that some years ago (15+) had one side cut out. The cut portion, I recently noticed has decayed and I am able to remove the wood and wood dust down to about 4 inches above the ground. The tree is about 3 feet in diameter and the piece that rotted is about 8 inches in diameter. Should I use the tar? the expanding concrete in the lower 4 inches? do nothing? Would appreciate some guidance

Wash out most of the root with a blast of water. Dry with rags and a blower. Then soak with peroxide and wait for it to dry. Next fill with a paste made of white Styrofoam and gasoline. Use clay or heavy mud to hold the filler in place since it flows like syrup. It takes months to harden so leave the clay in place.

I did this to the base of a large oak tree that was rotting out. The trunk healed itself and pushed out the hardened filler as it grew back to a normal tree as if the rot never was. Haven't tried it since but it's cheap and well worth a try. Wear rubber gloves to protect from the gasoline and keep smokers away the entire time.

You also might want to tie the limbs together if they could break and wreck a structure.
Virg

Where do you buy tree wound dressing?

Where do I buy tree wound dressing, and does this work for large damage done by woodpeckers?