Is this rope strangling our tree?

19 years ago

My boyfriend has this tree in his front yard. Apparently the previous owners kept a dog tied to the tree and didn't remove the rope. The tree has started to grow around the rope and he's worried the rope will strangle the young tree. Me knowing nothing about trees really, I didn't know what to tell him. Should we leave the rope where it is or try to remove it? and if we remove it, should we seal it with that wax like stuff they use for grafting?

http://home.petflytrap.com/users/bonnie/tree2.jpg

http://home.petflytrap.com/users/bonnie/Tree.jpg

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Comments (5)

Rosa
19 years ago
You can cut the rope even it you can't remove it, or remove all of it. Don't worry about small cuts in the bark when cutting the rope. You don't want to hack away at it tho and damage the tissue just under the bark. A box cutter type knife would work. Just make sure the rope is cut all the way thru.
You don't need to bother with sealing it at all. It will heal on it's own.
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shapiro
19 years ago
WildFyre: I agree with Rosa above. Most people are not aware that the most important part of the trunk of a tree is right under the bark. That's where the nutrition and the moisture travel up to the branches and leaves. That's why when one of those string whipper-snippers cuts the bark all around, the tree usually dies: the connection is broken. So yes, remove the rope but try as much as you can to leave the bark unbroken. Chances are, the bark might grow right over the rope bits.
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The comment about keeping them stable is ass backwards. The attachment point where its tied to the cage is typically in contact with the soil or at least mulch. That locations rots pretty quick so it provides NO support. Again remove it NOW so you can identify the rootflare and make sure its at the proper depth. At the end of the day the answers you're getting are generally commonplace in the trade. He's likely not trying to be devious but doesn't make it a good practice. Here is a special order maple that I couldn't pick out. I purposely dug the hole 3" shallower than recommended. Sure enough after I pulled back the rope, burlap and soil it was about 4" too deep. Now my tree is 1" deeper than it should be which isn't too bad. Originally my wife thought it was planted too high but now its close to even at ground level now that the top layer of the ball is removed. Technically I should have had the crew just put the tree next to the hole then remove the twine, identify the flare then figure out the planting hole depth. I've been doing this for quite some time now so I just estimate and 9 out of ten times I end up somewhere between 1" too deep and 3" too high. I'm completely fine with it.
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Most states there is nothing you can do you gave them the go ahead they didn't damage your house or any out buildings. When i first got started cutting on trees i was given a job like this tight against the house ood growth maple twin leaders dead with no bark. I got the go ahead to drop in the next yard over. climbed up to 60 foot tree started cracking so i made the quick call to top it out to limit weight. Top of the tree fit in the yard like a glove what i wasn't counting on was the top coming apart on impact ending ripping a telephone box out on the corner of the yard. i called the phone company soon as they got there owner came over madder then a wet hen screaming he was taking me to court to pay for it. At the time i was paying for but after his blow up said heck with it. went to court judge said it was on him he gave us the go ahead to drop the tree in the yard it didn't damage house or any buildings so the bill was on him he was trying to get me to pay for 10x what it cost to fix. after court i handled him the money for the box told him thanks for wasting my day over something i was already planning to pay for. check your state laws many states there isn't anything you can do. Topping them out they wouod of died for the most part they look fine need to be guided back in place but fine. Having a local arborist look at them wouldn't be a bad idea just making sure there isn't any root damage that's going to create problems down the road.
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sharbieh_aol_com
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Another similar question....I have a tree that was being "strangled" by a wire encased in a rubber tube. The tree grew over the wire. We tried to remove the wire, but could not. When trying to remove the wire we had to make a 1/2" deep hole the size of a dime into the side of the tree and cut the wire to loosen it. After reading this forum, I am worried that we might have hurt the tree. Should we seal the hole somehow?
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stevesyv
13 years ago
I tied a rope around a tree with three trunks (about a foot from the ground). The rope was to hold up a fence. The fence was replaced and the rope removed. However, the trunks had grown around the rope and a 1/2-3/4 inch indentation remains around the trunks. Some of the folage from the tree has turned brown and the tree appears thinner and less dense.

What can I do to save the tree?

Thanks.
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ianna
13 years ago
The only thing you can do was to remove the rope which you have done. However the damage is done. The affected areas channel water (think veins) and nutrients to the crown of the tree and so by cutting it off - essentially killing of those cells, the channels are permanently affected. Hopefully the tree can regenerate new channels from within the trunk.

Try to keep it healthy with good watering and nutrients. That is all you can do for now.
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Is this rope strangling our tree?

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Rosa

shapiro

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