How to help heal a large wound in very old oak tree

last year

I purchased my home 3 years ago and one of my very old and seemingly healthy oaks has a massive open wound that's destroying the core of the tree. It has some serious growth theying to heal itself but I want to do everything to make sure it survives. It's about 10 feet around at the bast and the wound is 6 to 7 feet tall and about 1 foot wide. I would love any advise on how to help it close up or atleast keep water and insects out of it.

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BillMN-z-2-3-4

last year

last modified: last year

Not much to be done.

The hole is from heartwood that has died for whatever reason and has since rotted inside the tree. The tree is still growing and adding layers or rings the same way that any tree does, which is the outside living layer of cambium, just under the outer bark.

Hollow oak trees are not unusual at all and can be found all over the native range of these trees. They can live for decades, even centuries without anything bad happening.

But if there's any concerns about the strength and safety of the tree, an ISA certified arborist could be called, and he/she would be able to tell whether or not the tree is safe or if it has to go.

In the meantime, hollow oaks are used by many forms of wildlife, for nesting and shelter. You might see a pair of Owls use it or even smaller mammals for their living quarters. :-)

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Comments (10)

Michael Folk
Original Author
last year
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Hi All, Jean, thank you for the link help! Brandon, the Garden Photo Gallery is the right place. However, I had to click on Great Gardens in the box on the right to post my picture. I picked "Great Gardens" because there wasn't an "Ugly Damage" category. The categories were all pretty names. LOL The damage on the tree is pointed toward the southwest so sun damage in freezing temperatures could be a possibility. We did have a week this Winter where it warmed up to the 60's for a couple/three days then immediately dropped back down to freezing again. I always worry about my crape myrtles when that happens but I guess I should worry more about the magnolia. The parking lot was landscaped a few years ago to reflect our new ordinance requiring all new parking lots to have landscaping instead of being barren black top. The guys who work at planning and zoning next door were nice enough to line the lot with many different shrubs and ornamental grasses. They did great work. The lot is long and skinny and one-way. At the entrance to the left is a triangular heavily mulched shrub bed with evergreen short shrubs across the front and the magnolia sitting behind them. Our golden vickory privet hedge lines it on the property line. So, the magnolia has a nice corner to set in. I must confess I always wanted a magnolia and don't have the room in my yard now. So, when the city representatives (this was very kind of them by the way) asked what I'd like to have there (since it was so close to our yard), you all can guess what I wanted. LOL That is why I treat this magnolia as my own even though it actually belongs to the city. They are pretty good about mulching and weeding. I am the one who sneaks over there at 5:00, feeds,weeds, and waters it during droughts. :-) That is why it is quite healthy other than the damage. It has the most wonderful smell when it blooms and it is just now big enough to really take off. Thanks everyone! J
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It's not just the wound, it's half the food making foliage and energy storing stems being suddenly gone also. You can often get away with radical pruning of small whips but once a tree has some time and size behind it the situation changes. Undertaking the bother and expense of engaging a qualified service to remove half a tree of some size right next to a house, without doing any damage to the structure - and then leaving the other half of the tree still in place makes no sense. And, again, this is an oak with a major fork starting down low - it may not be the same situation as a thousand other oaks with different structural development that have withstood recent hurricanes. We cannot see the crotch so there is no way to tell if it might be a weak one or not. When forking trees break apart it is because the top finally got heavy enough to fail under snow or during wind. Occasionally there might be some telltale advance cracking visible but often the tree suddenly bursts apart, with all of one or both halves above the fork falling on whatever is beneath it.
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bengz6westmd
last year
Nothing to do, it has been healing for quite a long time. You say it's destroying the interior, but is it really? Inner oak wood that is dry does not rot quickly.
bengz6westmd
last year
last modified: last year
You could spray some strong anti-fungal solution like copper sulfate into the bottom of the wound (be sure to clean it out first) if you can get up there.
BillMN-z-2-3-4
last year
Bottom of the wound could be down into the roots, you never know.

My only concern would be if there was a possibility of the tree falling on something, like a building or power lines, if it were to break in a strong storm.

Again, an onsite inspection by a qualified arborist would alleviate those fears.
Michael Folk
Original Author
last year
Nothing close for it to fall onto. The squirrels are loving it so I will just let it be for now and try to find a local arborist to take a look. Thanks for all the advice.
ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
last year
try to find a local arborist to take a look.

==>>

they said.. and i will repeat.. find an ISA CERTIFIED TREE SURGEON .. IN THIS CASE.. KNOWLEDGE WILL BE WORTH THE COST/PRICE ....

https://duckduckgo.com/?t=ffab&q=ISA+CERTIFIED+TREE+SURGEON&ia=web

if you have severe heart trouble.. you dont use the herbalist hippie at the end of the street.. you find the most highly qualified tree doctor you can ...

since its an oak.. this tree might only live another 100 years...

since it threatens no one... or anything.. then there really isnt anything to do..

wood rots due to water ... im not sure i would be dumping anything water based into the wound regardless if a fungicide would be beneficial ...

if this were hanging over your house.. i would tell you to have it removed immediately ... as with real estate.. its .. location.. location..location ...

trust me on this.. anything you can dream up is contrary to nature.. no paint.. no cement.. no nothing.. it all traps water and leads to faster and more decay ..

\ken
Michael Folk
Original Author
last year
Thanks Ken, that's very helpful and it's one of our beautiful big oaks between our house and the lake and safely away from anything.
charles kidder
last year
if it's far away from everything, I wouldn't worry about it. Worst case is it falls during a heavy thunderstorm and will cost less to remove.

The best thing is to keep the hole dry, so adding anything in the hole will likely make things worse. You want air to easily flow into the cavity.
Embothrium
last year
Key point is trees don't heal, as in replacing entire area of dead tissue. They grow over openings in bark from the edges, but the rest of a damaged, dead or rotted out stem section is not replaced.

How to help heal a large wound in very old oak tree

BillMN-z-2-3-4

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Michael Folk
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How to help heal a large wound in very old oak tree

BillMN-z-2-3-4

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