Assure me my willow is OK, please

OK, hired a teenager to mow the lawn. I have a very young weeping willow, the trunk is maybe an inch and a half in diameter. I was sitting admiring it yesterday and noticed something... investigated and apparently this young man who will never come near my lawn again gouged it about 3 inches above the soil. The injury is over an inch square and a quarter inch deep. On the opposite side is a small but deeper gouge. The bark around it feels a little soft, but it seems quite firm at the core.

I feel sure it's too late to do anything; had I known as soon as it happened I would have at least sealed it with something. I really want to cry. I've wanted a weeping willow since I was about 4 years old, moved here just over two years ago and by golly I planted it, right in the middle of the front lawn.

Any comments, suggestions? Is it likely to recover if I just leave it alone? I know willows will send up new trunks if you coppice them, but I want THIS trunk! Thanks.

Well I can assure you it will be OK, but I am not a expert. I would think the tree would live.

It'll likely be OK, willows are tough.

Resin

PS I'd not condemn the kid out of hand, if it was a "first time offence"! Maybe show him the damage, and explain that it's generally important to avoid damage to trees like that

brigidlily, sure hope your willow is ok. We have a willow in our front yard and I am told it grew from a stump of one that was cut down. Sure is a messy tree, but I wouldn't trade it for anything! My son calls it "his tree." ;o) Year before last someone from the city came and put something at the base of it around the roots so it wouldn't grow so fast. I think that has cut down on the messiness of it too.

Oh did you have Mulch around the tree? If you didn't you need to get some so he won't have to mow that close and if you do I would widen it some more and maybe drive a few stakes around the outer edges.

He called me a little while ago and asked if I wanted him to come mow. I told him he'd injured the willow, so I'd be doing it now. His response? "OK. Thanks." No apology, no acknowledgement, nothing. Astounding.

I wish I'd taken a picture of the injury. The leaves seem fine and all that. I guess time will tell.

And you actually did the right thing by not sealing it, I think the consensus these days is that you should leave things open to the air to heal rather than sealing them up which can promote fungal growth and problems along those lines. They are tough trees so I think it's likely that it'll recover. You might consider putting up a little wire fencing around it though, even if someone's being careful it's so easy to damage small trees like that with the mower or weed whacker so it's better if you can put up a barrier.

Brigid, it is possible he was embarrassed and didn't know what to say. Granted, he should have apologized at least.

Oh, I think he's just young and dumb. I'm sure it took him by surprise. I just hope the thought about it later and is determined to be more careful.

I'm thinking I'll get one of those circular mats you can put around the base of a tree to suppress the grass that's growing right there. It would definitely make it easier to mow. Or I have cut those moss sheets up (like you line a hanging basket with, you know?) and scrunched them around young trees. I'd rather have something that will compost itself than something made of recycled tires. I'm hoping one day to put one of those circular benches around the willow, but it will have to be a LOT bigger to do that, and I'll have to know where the lower big branches are going to wind up.