Tree medical care isn't to the point yet where we know how to treat or fill wounds. Heck, primate medical care only got that far in the last century or so.

When my trees have wounds I do try to spray some plant safe insecticide around or on them. Figure it can't hurt more than 101010101 ants and critters eating on the wood.

I like your line about the Arizona Ash, which I'm not familiar with. I own a Bradford Pear. Not great for anywhere it can fall on anything but the previous owners planted it.

the typical holes you see in trees

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hey brian

there are no TYPICAL holes in trees ...

first you properly ID the tree .. no guessing ... pic here will do that..

then you ID the pest.. bird or bug ... crazy neighbor with drill ....

then you take action ...

the suggestion that you jump to chemicals is not appropriate at this time.. as you may simply be poisoning birds ...

once the culprit is ID'd.. and removed. or dissuaded .... or sobered ..... then the tree can take care of the holes themselves ....

ken

Is this a serious posting?!

Dan

brian, it is no longer recommended (and hasn't been for about 20 years or more) that tree cavities be filled with anything and certainly NOT cement. That's an old, harmful practice best left behind in the dark ages.

It's also not recommended that you apply chemicals in hopes of keeping insects and diseases away.

Don't know about the sticky bands. What about some pictures?

+1 for Kens post.

Okay here are some photos:

Trunk of the tree:

{{gwi:406757}}

A shot looking up:

{{gwi:406758}}

One of the holes:

{{gwi:406759}}

Another hole:

{{gwi:406760}}

This is another tree that was lost due at least in part to some type of wood eating worms?

{{gwi:406761}}

Lastly another shot of the damage to the other tree:

{{gwi:406762}}

So the point of this thread was to keep that from happening to my other tree. Some of my concerns are:

The open holes

The possibility of using whatever was previously used on the trunk of the tree for protection, you can see if in the final shot towards the top running around the entire tree.

Possibly finding out what I can do about whatever attacked this tree. My wife has the type of insect or whatever that did this to the tree written down so I can get that if nobody know what is it by the pictures. My main concern with that is that it was suggested that we use some type of pesticide, however that pesticide is 32oz and recommends 1oz per inch of the thickness of the trunk of the three at chest height, which is about 70 inches. Now it may be normal but it seems odd to me that I'd have to use two bottles, especially since some of my other trees are even bigger and might require four bottles. I'm just used to buying something and it's enough for whatever you need to do, worst case scenario I figured one bottle one tree, but I actually thought one bottle would be enough for at least a couple of trees so it's a shock to realize I might need four bottles for one tree.

TIA

Wow...

Possibly finding out what I can do about whatever attacked this tree. My wife has the type of insect or whatever that did this to the tree written down so I can get that if nobody know what is it by the pictures... it was suggested that we use some type of pesticide, however that pesticide ...

Help us understand why you would withhold key information when seeking help. Is this some sort of test of our knowledge or ability to discern information from a few photos?

Head-shaking notwithstanding, from the sparse and confusing info given, from here this is a very large ash in decline and you want a certified arborist out there giving direction, particularly if there are targets or lives underneath, and especially if there will be a continuation of previous outcomes...

And perhaps you can write to the manufacturer of the chemical in your bottle relaying your...concerns...

Dan

Sounds almost like the instructions for keeping EAB at bay with the Bayer product. EXPENSIVE it is! I looked into it.

Them are perfect pictures of trees being incapable of encapsulating wounds and rot starting.

If I really liked that tree in the third picture down I would spray some bug killing substance in there. IF it were anyplace overhanging my house I'd get out the chainsaw.

Anecdotal evidence in my yard indicates spraying insecticide on stumps slows down how quickly they get consumed by bugs. I suspect the same is true of the essentially dead wood inside the cambium of trees.

Just my two cents. Its politically incorrect to use bug spray indiscriminately. My counter is "I KNOW there are bugs eating that wood in a nice cool damp hole". Now if you put spiders in cups and release them live outside bug spray isn't right for you. If that tree was out in the middle of a field I'd say let nature take its course.

The amount of sorry ass attitudes in here is unbelievable. I've been on the internet for almost twenty years and I've never seen anything like it. I've also posted on various sections on GardenWeb and have never seen anything like it there either.

I left that information out because it wasn't available at the time, and rather than putting it off I figured I'd post the pics and what info I had at the time.

Interesting. I basically have two trees in my back yard, those insects killed one, so I'd like to keep the one that appears to be hanging on by a thread alive if possible using whatever means necessary.

I've actually already used an insecticide that was for the bugs in question, however I only used half of what was called for because it asked for two bottles and I only bought one.

I'm having a hard time finding out what the bug was, I heard they were some type of worms that eat wood, but I never saw anything like that.

Briandl,

Please consider that different contributors have different styles. Just as some of them may be hard pressed to understand your initial post in light of what you eventually presented, you may not really understand their intentions or writing style. Many of the regulars in this forum have a style that those unfamiliar with daily life in this forum may not fully appreciate at first.

Sometimes it's easy to think you got your point across, even when you didn't, because you knew what you meant. Keep in mind that others don't start out knowing what you have in mind, and their understanding may be different than yours. Believe me, I have fallen into this trap many many many times. When I saw the pictures of your tree, I went back and reread the initial post and just kind of chuckled. The initial description was just not sufficient to start to describe the entire situation.

Also, some of the things you suggested in your first post (like filling the holes with concrete) are so "old-school" that many of us almost assume that people know better these days. We might shouldn't assume that, but often do anyway. Sometimes, a knowledge gap makes communications more difficult than one might expect. All this boils down to...please know that sometimes people that seem to have a "sorry ... attitude" are really just trying to help in their own way and may not understand your point any more than you understand theirs.
______________________________________

Now, my 2 cents on your tree. I understand your desire to hold on to the trees you have left, but if it were me, I'd scrap this tree in a heartbeat and put in something new. The tree is in decline. It may be unsafe and has pretty much no chance of any real improvement. If it were me, I'd cut my losses and invest my efforts on something that will amount to something in the future (just think of the wonderful opportunities!)

Brandon, it is human nature to react in such a manner when something is called out like that. Easily in the set of expected outcomes.

Argy-bargy notwithstanding, to recap, since the foto posting everyone from a distance thinks the tree(s) are past saving and should be cut down. Even without seeing the tree in context. I do see something that might be a structure, and the tree might be thinking of trying to fall on that. A strong wind might do it.

If extraordinary measures, for some reason, want to be attempted to save the tree, no one here likely can give good enough info. A certified arborist should be called upon to weigh in on the slim chances of saving and how much it will cost to forestall the inevitable for a couple years.

Dan

Yes it's a Arizona tr-ASH tree.

The holes are where larger branches were, but had been removed. Those types of cuts don't heal on that tree. Some people have used expanding foam but unless the tree heals the decay will continue. It has a lot of borer damage and is really in bad shape. You really need to replace it.

We have them here in DFW and they are bad news.

With the pix given I can see that there are three main branches coming from one point. If you climb up there and look into that forked area there is a good chance it is rotting there as well. Also visible (perhaps) is that one or more of those three main branches is in decline and watersprouts are everywhere (which can indicate a last gasp effort for life by a tree). As mentioned above, if you're set on keeping it, I'd get an arborist to look at it.

tj

Tanglefoot is the name of one of the products which you refer to as the dark band of sticky stuff. It is not effective for all insects, because if you can fly you won't be trapped in it, and if you deposit your eggs into bark and your larvae cause the tunneling, your larvae won't pass over it. It stops the path of insects traveling from ground to canopy or back.

The watersprouts in the above photos do not bode well for the future of your tree. And, those wounds do not look like the tree is ahead of the game in coping. Sorry, because I just inspected closely some damage to an ash on my property and it is NOWHERE near as damaged as yours, and it's big and it's old and it's coming down.............and I hate that. But, we do have EAB in our state and I'm calling extension tomorrow to verify what I suspect.

briandl,
I'm a pretty sarcastic fella, its true. Relating to folks isn't one of my specialties. Perhaps that's why I'm on gardenweb.com instead of publicspeakingweb.com or whatever lol

A few thoughts:
Trees are a replaceable resource. One we grow attached to but still replaceable.

The reason 100+ year old trees growing outside Anne Frank's house or wherever are rare is most DO NOT last that long.

Is it irrational that we grow attached to our dogs? No, in the past dogs helped man survive so a larger percentage of humans who bonded with dogs passed on their genes. Perhaps its similar with trees. They provide shade, fruit, shelter, beauty, and hide our neighbor's ugly houses lol.

Sucks you're loosing a prominent feature of your landscape. I've hated cutting down the two ash and two silver maples which became too dangerous for my yard in just the last 7 years. I've been modifying my personal landscape so the next owners have lower maintenance issues with trees. Its just time to move on and replace them. Collect up some estimates over the next few weeks and start looking forward to fall planting.