I moved into our house 2 years ago and one of our trees is riddled with holes in it. I thought they were from a wood pecker, but after trimming some branches I found termites in them.
I decided to take a hammer and chisel to the trunk of the tree where are the holes are and it is infested with termites (100s could be seen as I peeled away the dead parts)
This tree isn’t super meaningful to me. Should I just cut my losses and cut it down. Or do you think it can be saved?
Sorry for the bad lighting in the pictures. If needed I can retake, but there are hundreds of termites that can be seen inside
by rxrivman
3 Comments
That tree is in very bad shape. Although it is trying to close off the wounds (notice the rolls of callus growth on the edges of the wound), this tree is truly just one strong wind from snapping. If it can reach the house or anything else that’s valuable, I’d remove it ASAP. If it can’t reach anything valuable, remove it at your leisure.
Yes it is, Insects like Carpenter Ants (the likely culprit here) will do this kind of damage, most commonly consuming from the inside out.
Firewood, take it down before it hurts someone.