It’s just a matter of aesthetics. How bad is that peel on the bottom?
Lord_Acorn
It won’t heal properly because it’s a massive wound that is almost the same diameter as the trunk. Why was this limb removed?
The very slightly fucked up cut doesnt make a difference.
xXthrillhoXx
Suboptimal angle but the size of the cut is the bigger problem
Ok-Thing9727
Branch collar is intact, there’s no tearing on the bark. Water will run through that just fine.
It will callus over that little cut no worries at all
Prewps
The cut quality isn’t the problem. The problem is that is way too big of a cut and will never be able to seal itself. It’ll always be a wound and entry point for decay. I’m assuming the limb actually needed to come out for some safety reason. The company I work for would never recommend a pruning cut this big, except as a last resort.
lonelyinbama
Ain’t no fixing it. And it’s a massive fuck up.
Think about this. Trees don’t heal, they seal. So the interior of this cut is going to start rotting. The tree will be trying to seal over the wound in the meantime. When a cut is small, the sealing wins out and covers the dead part of the cut. When it’s massive like this, there’s no way for it to seal properly before the rot of the wound takes place.
There’s going to be a massive wound where that cut is. It could form a hole, and it will rot. Only time will tell how the tree handles it. Could live for another 20-40 years with no “real” issues. OR it could happen much faster. Honestly just no way of knowing.
But at this point. What’s done is done. Can’t go back in time. So it’s just wait and see.
TheLovelyTrees
Leave it alone. At this point, it is what it is. Trying to ‘fix it’ will make it worse, end up with a flush cut. It isnt even that bad.
PragmaticPacifist
Does the black pruning ‘spray paint’ help?
I know it is marketed and I have used it- for the pros on the sub- does it work?
MrArborsexual
Maybe it is the angle of the photo, but I’m not sure I understand why this limb was cut. It is coming off close to 90 degrees so attachment should have been pretty strong with plenty of room for tension wood to develop with little to any bark inclusions.
steamedlobstrrr
After reading the above comments, I have a question. Is there a percentage target when removing branches safely? For example, 1/2 the size of the main trunk or less? Or does it depend on species, like Oak 8″ or less, Maple 6″ or less? Thanks in advance for answering an amateur question.
Savings-Kick-578
That cut is always going to look tike this. It will only darken with age. While the company called that a pruning cut, it is more like removing a tree based on the diameter.
Dry-Impression8809
There is no fixing it. The more you cut, the worse it will be. Just leave it and cross your fingers.
I will catch flak for this, but it will be fine. All the people up in arms about how this will ruin the tree and it will never recover dont have experience with live oaks, apparently. They can recover from very large wounds with little long term issue. It will take a decade or more for the tree to properly compartmentalize that wound, but the underlying wood will still be sound by then.
Live oaks live along the coast and have to deal with yearly hurricanes ripping branches off. Their wood is naturally strong and rot resistant to survive in these conditions. So much so that the navy still owns a grove of live oaks for building war ships.
RyanT567
In my experience, a tree this mature with a limb that big will never “heal over”.
Navigator321951
They need to cut it flush as possible
NewAlexandria
for the sake of the history of this sub — why did you/they decide to do a cut this big?
Litosmenonitos
Honestly, the best thing to do is leave it alone. Do check to see if you’re in a high disease area for oak wilt; not 100% what type of tree it is, but it looks like an oak. If not, ignore this part. Every state has a different name, but for me, Texas, it’s the AgriLife Extension Office (County name), if you are, seal it. Don’t seal it if you don’t know or can’t Google a straight answer. Check back in a year or two to see if it’s “healing”, growing around the edges, as well as check that dark spot, which might be a sign of rotting, but not a serious concern, as most larger trees do tend to rot internally. But start an emergency tree cut down savings account starting now.
18 Comments
I would say to have it fixed.
Totally fine makes no difference, it will heal.
It’s just a matter of aesthetics. How bad is that peel on the bottom?
It won’t heal properly because it’s a massive wound that is almost the same diameter as the trunk. Why was this limb removed?
The very slightly fucked up cut doesnt make a difference.
Suboptimal angle but the size of the cut is the bigger problem
Branch collar is intact, there’s no tearing on the bark. Water will run through that just fine.
It will callus over that little cut no worries at all
The cut quality isn’t the problem. The problem is that is way too big of a cut and will never be able to seal itself. It’ll always be a wound and entry point for decay. I’m assuming the limb actually needed to come out for some safety reason. The company I work for would never recommend a pruning cut this big, except as a last resort.
Ain’t no fixing it. And it’s a massive fuck up.
Think about this. Trees don’t heal, they seal. So the interior of this cut is going to start rotting. The tree will be trying to seal over the wound in the meantime. When a cut is small, the sealing wins out and covers the dead part of the cut. When it’s massive like this, there’s no way for it to seal properly before the rot of the wound takes place.
There’s going to be a massive wound where that cut is. It could form a hole, and it will rot. Only time will tell how the tree handles it. Could live for another 20-40 years with no “real” issues. OR it could happen much faster. Honestly just no way of knowing.
But at this point. What’s done is done. Can’t go back in time. So it’s just wait and see.
Leave it alone. At this point, it is what it is. Trying to ‘fix it’ will make it worse, end up with a flush cut. It isnt even that bad.
Does the black pruning ‘spray paint’ help?
I know it is marketed and I have used it- for the pros on the sub- does it work?
Maybe it is the angle of the photo, but I’m not sure I understand why this limb was cut. It is coming off close to 90 degrees so attachment should have been pretty strong with plenty of room for tension wood to develop with little to any bark inclusions.
After reading the above comments, I have a question. Is there a percentage target when removing branches safely? For example, 1/2 the size of the main trunk or less? Or does it depend on species, like Oak 8″ or less, Maple 6″ or less? Thanks in advance for answering an amateur question.
That cut is always going to look tike this. It will only darken with age. While the company called that a pruning cut, it is more like removing a tree based on the diameter.
There is no fixing it. The more you cut, the worse it will be. Just leave it and cross your fingers.
I will catch flak for this, but it will be fine. All the people up in arms about how this will ruin the tree and it will never recover dont have experience with live oaks, apparently. They can recover from very large wounds with little long term issue. It will take a decade or more for the tree to properly compartmentalize that wound, but the underlying wood will still be sound by then.
Live oaks live along the coast and have to deal with yearly hurricanes ripping branches off. Their wood is naturally strong and rot resistant to survive in these conditions. So much so that the navy still owns a grove of live oaks for building war ships.
In my experience, a tree this mature with a limb that big will never “heal over”.
They need to cut it flush as possible
for the sake of the history of this sub — why did you/they decide to do a cut this big?
Honestly, the best thing to do is leave it alone. Do check to see if you’re in a high disease area for oak wilt; not 100% what type of tree it is, but it looks like an oak. If not, ignore this part. Every state has a different name, but for me, Texas, it’s the AgriLife Extension Office (County name), if you are, seal it. Don’t seal it if you don’t know or can’t Google a straight answer. Check back in a year or two to see if it’s “healing”, growing around the edges, as well as check that dark spot, which might be a sign of rotting, but not a serious concern, as most larger trees do tend to rot internally. But start an emergency tree cut down savings account starting now.