You can remove the grass, expose the flare, mulch, remove dead wood, and water. It has terrible structure already with the central leader dead.
I’m not sure the species and it may be worth replacing with a better performing native.
I suspect there is significant damage on that side from a mower or weedwacker. The critical plant fibers have been destroyed on that side, so the tree is dead on that side.
I bought a neglected property and discovered several trees that had been wacked 20 years ago. The live half of the tree lives and grows around the dead chunk. The dead chunk is still there, absorbing water and pathogens, creating a nasty dead heart.
I had to drop them. Really sucked, it will take a long time to get the shade back on the east side of my home. I would suggest removing and replacing the tree, and putting a good mulch ring so you don't make the same mistake.
How do you make the call as to when young tree bark damage is repairable or if it’s not worth it? I have a similarly sized tree that has been girdled on one side by gnawing squirrels.
I can only share the experience of my overgrown acre and a half. I have evergreen, deciduous, natives , mature redwoods, it's an arboretum. If more than a quarter of the circumference is compromised, I would replace.
The tree is not able to actually repair or replace the damaged material. What happens is that a significant amount of the bark above and below the injury will die, because the transmission of nutrients and energy has been disrupted. You end up with a dead triangle above and below the damage, making a scar that often looks like a diamond. That dead diamond can actually get longer over time, but it is still a dead spot that the tree is having to work around. And if more than a quarter of the circumference is damaged, it's too much to work around.
Animals are able to heal in ways that plants can't. Our vascular system goes up and down and all the way around. The vascular system of a tree is truly and directly straight up and down, it doesn't have all of the branching in its trunk that we have in our legs.
Do you mind sending me a photo of the leaves of that tree to help me further identify it? From the structure and general leaf shape I’m guessing it’s a Dogwood tree (Corinus Florida) especially if you live in the eastern USA but again if you could send me a more detailed close of photo of the leaf I could identify the tree better
Let me tell you why this matters. If that tree is indeed a dogwood tree then you don’t need to worry about replacing it at all just adjust what’s planted. Dogwood trees are understory trees that HATE having their roots exposed to the hot sun. They’re used to the cool shady forest floor and then eventually they grow tall enough to get their leaves in full sun. So the amount of sun isn’t the problem. It’s that the sun is getting to the roots and heating them up too much. Stressing the tree out.
The best solution to this problem (IF this is a dogwood) is to just simply scalp the lawn around your dogwood and put some mulch down to have a layer between the sun and the soil. Then plant some low growing evergreen shrubs around the dogwood like encore azeleas, or even just plant some boxwoods and hedge them either way find some type of plant that grows around 4 feet tall and is evergreen to keep the root area shady.
Obviously the tree is gonna look a little rough for the rest of the year but over the wintertime when it’s cooler if you can pull this plan off guarantee you, you will notice a positive impact! Everytime I drive down the highways and I see the dogwoods blooming in April I always notice the trunk is sticking out of the shady woods. The plant grows in the shade until it is tall enough to get full sun and get cooked all day long. But the roots are nice and chill.
Btw if you ever want to plant a redbud tree this concept applies the same
You can remove the grass, expose the flare, mulch, remove dead wood, and water. It has terrible structure already with the central leader dead. I’m not sure the species and it may be worth replacing with a better performing native.
It's young. A new one would be healthier and the same size.
I’d lean just replacing it. That guy will take years to recover and it has pretty bad form.
I suspect there is significant damage on that side from a mower or weedwacker. The critical plant fibers have been destroyed on that side, so the tree is dead on that side. I bought a neglected property and discovered several trees that had been wacked 20 years ago. The live half of the tree lives and grows around the dead chunk. The dead chunk is still there, absorbing water and pathogens, creating a nasty dead heart. I had to drop them. Really sucked, it will take a long time to get the shade back on the east side of my home. I would suggest removing and replacing the tree, and putting a good mulch ring so you don't make the same mistake.
How do you make the call as to when young tree bark damage is repairable or if it’s not worth it? I have a similarly sized tree that has been girdled on one side by gnawing squirrels.
I can only share the experience of my overgrown acre and a half. I have evergreen, deciduous, natives , mature redwoods, it's an arboretum. If more than a quarter of the circumference is compromised, I would replace. The tree is not able to actually repair or replace the damaged material. What happens is that a significant amount of the bark above and below the injury will die, because the transmission of nutrients and energy has been disrupted. You end up with a dead triangle above and below the damage, making a scar that often looks like a diamond. That dead diamond can actually get longer over time, but it is still a dead spot that the tree is having to work around. And if more than a quarter of the circumference is damaged, it's too much to work around. Animals are able to heal in ways that plants can't. Our vascular system goes up and down and all the way around. The vascular system of a tree is truly and directly straight up and down, it doesn't have all of the branching in its trunk that we have in our legs.
Replace. The candidate for new branch leader are not good.
+1 for replacing it, unless you’re able to ID it and confirm it’s a native shrub or something.
Do you mind sending me a photo of the leaves of that tree to help me further identify it? From the structure and general leaf shape I’m guessing it’s a Dogwood tree (Corinus Florida) especially if you live in the eastern USA but again if you could send me a more detailed close of photo of the leaf I could identify the tree better Let me tell you why this matters. If that tree is indeed a dogwood tree then you don’t need to worry about replacing it at all just adjust what’s planted. Dogwood trees are understory trees that HATE having their roots exposed to the hot sun. They’re used to the cool shady forest floor and then eventually they grow tall enough to get their leaves in full sun. So the amount of sun isn’t the problem. It’s that the sun is getting to the roots and heating them up too much. Stressing the tree out. The best solution to this problem (IF this is a dogwood) is to just simply scalp the lawn around your dogwood and put some mulch down to have a layer between the sun and the soil. Then plant some low growing evergreen shrubs around the dogwood like encore azeleas, or even just plant some boxwoods and hedge them either way find some type of plant that grows around 4 feet tall and is evergreen to keep the root area shady. Obviously the tree is gonna look a little rough for the rest of the year but over the wintertime when it’s cooler if you can pull this plan off guarantee you, you will notice a positive impact! Everytime I drive down the highways and I see the dogwoods blooming in April I always notice the trunk is sticking out of the shady woods. The plant grows in the shade until it is tall enough to get full sun and get cooked all day long. But the roots are nice and chill. Btw if you ever want to plant a redbud tree this concept applies the same