Oh, I feel so bad!

KatyMac -

I've been looking around the shrub and tree forum and haven't yet had a name jump out at me. But did you know that there's a JM forum. Judging from some of the posts, they seem pretty knowledgeable. You might try your question there . . .

http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/f/japmap/all

I still say "What do you have to lose by waiting and seeing?" The worst that can happen is that the tree dies, which it will certainly do if you cut it down. It sounds as though even the experts cannot really say with certainty that you should remove the tree, which means they would either wait and see, or cut their losses and replace the tree.
If you love the tree and want to wait, you will improve its chances of doing well if you keep water from accumulating in the wound, just like you would if you had to cut a big branch from a tree. If it is impossible to make the wound flush with the outside because the wound is too deep, I would consider filling the part of the wound that would hold water with a tree wound material but leaving the rest of it to mother nature. I think that making the wound neat and tidy as possible and then letting nature take its course will give you the best chance. And think of it this way: if the tree declines slowly, it will attract woodpeckers who will feed off the insects in the rotting tree. We have a cherry tree that we leave up just for this purpose because half of it is rotted. Likewise with our paper birch. Meanwhile, you could get another maple and keep it in a pot, increasing the pot size each year if necessary. If your tree dies, you can then replace it.

edited to say: don't forget to tell your tree that you know it can recover and that you still love it and will nurture it along. I know that sounds crazy but I also know that it helps.

This message was edited Oct 22, 2007 10:39 PM

I agree with Pixy. Let the tree know that it is still beautiful and that this is just a little "growing pain."

I totally agree. Don't cut it down. I don't think the jury's in on this tree by a long shot. Do what you can for the wound and watch it recover . . .

And ask Pix to send over a few fairies - they definately help.

My vote is with the other - a wait and see attitude at least gives you time to think about what you want to do with it.

We have a maple that lost one of its 3 branches in the ice strom of 1991, were told by a tree guy to cut it down as it wouldn't survive, and now in 2007, it is a beautiful tree. I'll get a pic later. Not sure how the depth of our damage compares to yours, but I'd wait and see.

Thanks for the encouraging words all. Yes, I have thought of partially or even completely filling the gaping wound with some materials that would both protect and reinforce the trunk. I thought of mortar off the top of my head, there may be other materials that are more appropriate.

Katy,
I know the man is a nut, But E-mail Cisco on his web site. I'll get it.
He has alot of knowlege.

http://www.king5.com/homeandgarden/ciscoe/

This message was edited Oct 23, 2007 5:49 PM

Mary, I sent him an email with a link to my blog that has a photo. Thanks! Can't hurt! BTW, I'm a dedicated fan. His shows and website was such a help when I first moved to the PNW.

That was my only thought, I had to severely prune back my flowering crabapple, My DH got the chainsaw out I told him where to cut, He thought I just lost it and looked at me like I was crazy. but he did thought I was going to kill it. But I won its doing just fine. And I think you tree will do fine.
There are pros and cons about using the sealer, and it depends on the tree, some trees have sap that will seal the wound naturally, others to not have that, and that's why you would use the sealer. and there is allot more about it. I have a old book some where I will try to find it on wounds, Hope I didn't toss it during the clean up around here. LOL
Heres a pic of what we did to it, was getting in the wires.

Wow, that was major. I'm glad your tree has recovered. What did you do about the wires?

Everything I've found advises against using a sealer, say it prevents the trees natural healing. I have no choice right now but to wait and see. I sure hope we don't have another windstorm before the leaves have fallen. I'm afraid that would snap it. I just have no way to safely take it down right now anyway. My BIL works 6 days a week and he's the only one I know with a big chainsaw. Come next fall, it if makes it through the summer I think I will try to have the other fork removed. It's the twin of the one that broke off.

Don't worry, Laurie! Katy's tree already had loads of fairies taking care of it.
Katy, in the photo of the wound, it looks like the branch was sort of ripped out of the trunk, leaving a nice basin down in the wood. Is that right? If so, that would be my biggest concern in terms of filling in the wound. Generally plants take care of themselves, since they have evolved over millions of years to do so, but in the case of a little bowl shaped wound, I'd be concerned about water sitting in it. I think I would use some kind of sealer or filler for that area alone.

I think emailing Cisco is a great idea. That guy is completely brilliant.

No Pixydish, there's not actually a basin. I will double check it the next rain but I appears to have outlet. The wound goes in so deeply where the branch twisted and pulled coming down. Then it slopes down to the bottom of the wound.

If I find water is standing, I don't know what to fill it with.

Katy
Took a pic of our wounded maple, and the wound was actually pretty deep. The tree was lop-sided for awhile, but has grown and filled in nicely. You probably can't see it too well in the pic,
the inset is a close up of the wound, and the arrow points it out. It happened16 years ago, and so far so good.

What a beautiful tree, I just hope it is going to be okay! My grandfather used to graft trees when I was a youngster and I remember one of the citrus trees getting struck during a lightning storm. Grandpa got out the next morning and heated up his grafting wax and slopped it on the wound. That tree never even knew it had a problem, maybe there is something you could slop on the wound if needed.

cocoajune, I will go Google grafting wax right now! Thanks!

Debilu -

Beautiful tree. You'd never know that it was ever hurt.

There is an article in the latest Fine Gardening mag about using sealants. The bottom line was not to use.
I have used/not used - both ways were successful.
Also (off-topic) - saw an article in a newspaper online about the lack of colour this fall being a result of draught conditions. But curious: if the soil is drier, doesn't the plant have a harder time taking up the required nutrients because they are not as "available" ?

And that doesn't account for the variability in vine maples in the same geographic area, does it? But interesting, all the same.

Don't you just love Fine Gardening? I'm so happy that they did a volume on Japanese Maples.

Yes - aren't there different VM's though?
Now I have JM envy, and as long as it doesn't move beyond desire, my wallet is safe.
BTW - you have dmail...

Nothing like coming late to the party, but I now cast my ballot as WOW on Laurie's Red Birch. I love birch but have never seen one so bright. Lovely photo, Laurie.

I cast my second vote for 'wait and see' on the injured KatyMac tree. It looks like it still is fairly balance from the two dimensional view we get.

Cisco would be a place to start. Ooh La la LOL. But you might try to hunt down a city or county arborist and shoot them a phone call or email KatyMac. They really know trees. They love trees! If you can't find one, Dmail me and I'll see if I can find the name of a well-trusted, tried-and-true one up here.

Oh Pooch - thanks for an idea. It might be a good thing to consolidate recommendations on people that are in industries whose services we might need. Arborists, for one. Concrete, stone work, stables that would like to pass on manure, etc...

Interesting. I thought there was only one native VM, but that's just an assumption. I really haven't looked into it. That might explain somet things . . . Good question, Katye.

Hi Poochella. Good to see/hear you here. Poochella gave me the name of a guy who did some road grating for her - it's a great way to get recommendations, for sure.

BTW, I'm starting to get my trade list up - what I have so far is here: http://www.gardenweb.com/members/exch/jitterbug_gardener. Not too much exciting, but they might just fill a spot for you.

K

Poochella, you have Dmail. Thanks!

Hey Katie, I checked your link and there was NOTHING listed... in seeds, in wants, in trades... nothing! OOPs?

Wow, this is a first! I don't think I've ever seen all three "Katies" post in a row before...

The advice and remarks from the Trees and Shrubs Forum are all doom and gloom. Most don't think it will make it.

http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/782993/

susy - the K's are everywhere, and that can be scary....
wait until we all get to the swap!!!

Psych: Try it now, I'd gone back in to edit it - maybe that caused the rproblem. Thanks for letting me know . . .

Katye, hmmm... maybe we could all meet at a Krispy Kreme?

(sorry, yes this post might be crossthreaded, but the "K" comment was on this one.... I couldn't resist.....although I'd actually prefer a good cappuccino...)

Wow. I wonder if escambiaguy is the one I thought had a lot of knowledge about JMs before. His handle sounds familiar. Interesting comment about this being a "lesson to avoid sharp crotch angels in the future". If only the tree would give you lots of options when pruning. :-)

It looks like where these people are from they have lots of snow and ice storms. Wonder if that has colored their responses. Ecrane, who's in CA, didn't seem as "doom and gloom" as the rest.

I guess time will tell . . . Thanks for sharing what you're hearing.

Susy - The Katye's at Krispy Kreme? Dangerous in more ways than one. Unfortunately (or fortunately) the two Seattle-area KK's aren't very close to the swap.

The two experts I have noticed on the Japanese Maple forum are myersphcf and Todd_Boland. Perhaps one or the other of them can answer your questions about your poor tree, KatyMac. I hope so. Dotti

Nope, still nothing Katie

:-) I've been in and out of it (though I left it alone awhile after your first post). I'm going to save it, log out and then log in again and see what's there.
Have:
Colorado Blue Spruce (Picea pungens)
White Dogwood (Cornus florida)
Horsechestnut (Aesculus hippocastanum)
Washington Hawthorne (Crataegus phaenopyrum)
Pin Oak (Quercus palustris)
Birch (Betula ?)
Nootka Rose (Rosa nutkana)
Easter Rose (Kerria japonica)
Forsythia x Intermedia 'Lynnwood Gold' (I think)
Mock Orange (Philadelphus virginalis)
Lady's Mantle (Alchemilla vulgaris)
Shasta Daisy (Leucanthemum x superbum)
Geum
Common Violet (Viola sororia)
Hemerocallis Stella De Oro
Lemon Balm (Melissa officinalis)
Want:
Salvia
Agastache
Penstemon
Heleniums
Eremeris
Miscanthus sinensis 'Gold Bar'
Grasses
Cape Fuchsia (Phygelius Capensis)
Dahlia
Crape myrtle (Lagerstroemia indica)
Erysimum
Goldenrod (Solidago)

Sorry for the confusion, Psych. And the want list is, of course, a very abbreviated list. LOL

Katie

Katie, what, more than a kilometer away?

.....OK, I'm done with bad "K" jokes now....

and seriously it's a very good thing they aren't close.

Poochella - thanks for the compliment on the birch photo - I love that tree in all its stages - when the bark peels you get that beautiful contrast of the amber undersides against the best chalky white I've seen - it has a faint red blush under the chalky surface - just amazing, and all the new growth is the colour of well used morroccan leather. Can you tell I spend a lot of time looking at this tree? Glad you like it.

And its also nice to hear from you - hope you were busy gardening.

Katy, I have just now stumbled on this post so it may be too late. We had that happen to two or three major limbs in one of our maples last November in the snow storm. (One year ago tomorrow!) Anyway, too late for us, I discovered recently that you can attach the limb back to the tree with screws and sometimes save the limb! The screw can be removed later or left in.

Gwen

Wow, Gwen. That's interesting. Who would have thought?

I was just thinking about Katy's tree today. Every time I see a tree, I hear someone from DG saying, "Let that be a lesson to you to avoid sharp crotch angles." 90% of the small trees I see have "sharp" crotch angles. LOL

Gotta watch those "angles" Katie! Get your mind out of the gutter so mine can go by! :0) Great minds think alike!