I was unable to close the gap any further but I was able to get two rods through it and after a couple of days. I do not see any wilting branches at the end of it or dead leaves. My friend is gonna come with a come along to see if we can try to close this gap just a little bit more. My worries are winter time ice and snow will fill this gap. Is there anything I can put in there or above it or around it to prevent water and ice to get in there,burlap maybe
by Top-Association6645
7 Comments
It’s cooked Jim.
No, don’t be regarded. Go to wall st bets for foolish activities like this.
Redbuds commonly tear themselves apart but there’s no harm in trying. I would suggest a crown reduction to take some weight off the tips and remove the ratchet strap. I wouldn’t try to fill the void with anything. Just let the tree do its thing. Once you’ve done that get a good amount of arborist wood chips spread around the base and give it a good watering.
It won’t fuse back together or anything. I’d avoid trying to close the gap further, you’ll likely do more harm than good. Depending on the size/weight of the branches involved this might hold for a while or it might cause the whole branch to break closer to the trunk because it can’t flex in the same way now.
It’s probably fine to leave it this way, but you may need to remove one or the other side of this break sooner or later. From what I see the lower (right) side is better to remove if you have to choose one. Don’t put anything in there or around the wound and get that strap off of there soon. If you leave the strap, the tree will grow into it and girdle itself and you’ll wind up losing the whole branch anyway.
That entire tree seems to be saying “FUCK YOU , GRAVITY!”
The bolts will hold it together but water will penetrate and rot out the core and eventually the bolts won’t have anything to hold together. You can fill the hollow with something but it likely won’t work and the tests people have done on similar projects don’t work. PC Woody/ linseed/ cement. The best outcome, is you fill the hole, and allow the bark to heal over the wound which would hold it together longer than anything else. But it will either hollow out eventually, or another storm will bring it down hollow or not.
Try and tighten the bolts again in the winter.