I hired a professional tree company to take down some pines and prune this oak tree so it wasn’t hanging over the garage. Which they did a job on but they did this on the neighbors side. How bad is this? Anything I can do to save the tree?
by gunitman
37 Comments
Not necessarily
I’m thinking a pro shouldn’t have done this bad of a job trimming branches.
My place of employment has a tree with storm damage that looks like this and arborist said the tree should be fine
Two years later it’s thriving.
The tree company made that cut? That’s horrendous.
The tree’s long term health and potential has now been reduced dramatically. It’s not going to happen soon but in 5-10 years you will want to monitor for rot and fungus.
The tree could lost another 50 years and develope begin compartmentalizing and strengthening wood around the wound
ahhh yes “professional”
“professional tree company”
Let me be the first to break it to you, you didn’t hire a professional tree company. At best, you hired the cheapest tree company.
Imagine you had a subway sandwich sized piece of your skin missing, anywhere on your body. Would it kill you? Probably not instantly, but now you’ve got an open door and welcome mat for infection to waltz right in.
Anyone that does this even somewhat professionally knows how to take limbs off without this happening.
Edit, I want to clarify, I’m not angry with you, OP. I’m annoyed with the people that did this to this tree. You as the client weren’t the one holding the saw.
You hired a guy with a saw and likely a ladder. I’m sorry you got taken.
Terrible trim job. They cut it in a way that it peeled back instead of snapping off. I would put something on it like a tree wound spray or something idk, that’s what we used to use for small spots but this is huge. What’s the company name? I recently left a tree cutting job and wondering if it’s them.
Didn’t even cut the branch at an angle. Would tree wound work on that size of damage? (I notice nobody seems to actually use tree wound sealant anymore.)
No, I think it can be rehabilitated. It looks healthy other than the unfortunate damage and trimming
Not very professional
Im just a diy guy. But my parents got a few giant oaks all around the house that were decades overdue for pruning. I could’ve done better than this. A simple under cut was all it took. Like for your own safety cutting a limb this size you wanna do an undercut so the saw doesn’t pinch and kickback . Or in the case of this tree im assuming that strip probably whipped that saw right out of the guy/gal hands. Ive had cuts like this happen to bradford pears cause I had 100 more to cut. And they scared the hell out of me with all that tension stored. The trunks were 1/5 the size of this limb lol
So yeah I would not pay those people any money. I wouldn’t pay a mechanic for doing an oil change and then taking it on a test drive after forgetting to put the oil back in and all I hear is metal on metal and see smoke billowing out as he hands the keys requesting money for the “oil change ” neither should u op 💯💯
Trees are very resilient
Did not do an undercut ! Very first cut you make period .
It didnt peel, there was a split or weak spot and it split. Betting they cut from the top and didnt cut the bottom so it wouldn’t split like that.
Horrible job but tree will be fine.
Holy smokes, where do we start.
You have a beautiful tree.
It sucks to see this happened to you. I would absolutely suggest seeking recourse. This is unacceptable on multiple levels. Dont take it lightly. If I did this would expect to be sued. Especially if the trees health declines.
Theres companies out there with nothing but 5 star ratings that do poor work. Hold off on the review, but write one and dont let this happen to anyone else.
On to the other problem here.
Oaks should not be pruned in the summer, especially a cut that large.
Not only did they neglect to do a simple undercut on the limb… they shouldnt have touched it til fall in the first place. Depending on where you live, youre probably in oak wilt season.
Find a TRAQ certified arborist in your area and have them come look. They will have the health answer for you. You might pay a couple bucks, it might be free, but you’ll be talking to the right person.
This is what professional liability insurance is for. My own company has $1m insurance for something like this.
The peel is bad but look at the stub left on the right. Branch collars are overrated. “PrOfeSSionAl TreE SerVIcE”
Don’t use the word “professional” regarding anyone involved with anything that happened here.
The tree should survive just fine. It’s not girdled. Just get some tree wound dressing and brush a few coats on to ward off any infection or insect borers. If possible hire someone else next time!
Or tell them ti come back and dress the wounds
Nothing will happen bad w that tree it will heal . No issue don’t worry
To add insult to injury you pruned an oak during the summer.
I’m starting to believe this wasn’t the tree company and might have been the neighbor. My wife and I recently closed on this house a few weeks ago and haven’t moved in yet. We had the tree work done on Thursday and I’ve driven by a few times during the job and once after. Didn’t notice that damage until today. I haven’t talked to the tree company yet, I’m going to send the foreman the pictures tomorrow and talk to him. I would have definitely noticed that on Thursday when I drove by
Sad. So easily preventable too.
Jesus Christ. An Asplundh guy wouldn’t even do that to your trees.
One of the worst peels I’ve seen
One trick to try, paint the damage. Paint will do a couple of things, it the prevent water and bugs from causing further damage, and it will act like a temporary artificial bark. Sounds weird but with a few tree climbing mishaps in my youth I’ve seen it work
That would be not a professional
No, it will heal
Worst peel out I’ve seen today
Call a lawyer
This is extreme amateurism. It’s the result of knowing literally nothing about making a cut.
It’s possible the tree will heal this over but it will take many years and more likely the wood will rot and the tree eventually become a hazard.
I know next to nothing about all this arborist jazz but intuitively I would think that a solution to saving the tree like this (or alternatively if it was stripped at the base) would be to burn that section of exposed tree innards(flesh?) the same way we cauterize a wound.
Could someone clarify if this would work?
Go easy on me please, ignorance dies with asking questions
That is one epic peel, I’ve seen some bad ones, but damn, how the hell are people getting jobs pruning oak trees that can’t make an undercut. I need to move to whatever state you’re in, I’d get rich
What an amateur non tree cutter mistake
You really shouldn’t even be pruning oaks in the summer, with cuts that big oak wilt is almost inevitable