Another reduction just for laughs!

[Tony Croft aka hamadryad]

All I meant wast that if the stub wasn't a hazard I would have just left it, or maybe just reduced the length of the dead tissue and not cut into the living tissue. The cut looks like it has breached reactive zones that the tree has used reserves in creating. I doubt it would oclude, rather just form a callus on that little bit of live wood you cut though. My guess is that the tree was most likely doing a better job as it was.

 

I'm just being fussy as I've often thought this when in the past I target pruned sick limbs only to expose reaction wood. Sometimes it pays to take a look at exactly what your putting your saw into. Please don't think I scanned your post looking to criticise you.

 

I Always treat these stubs the same, clean as possible as though making a target prune to an ordinary limb removal.

 

this also has the bonus of, occlusion or callous coverying the wounded exposed xylem in time, and the inrolled occlusions can often give great strength to the cavity they roll into.

 

imagine how much rigidity a buckets rim gives it? try and cut the rim of and fill with water! good demo

[gibbon]

I think you misinterpreted my piont. You say you always clean up a stub. My piont is that I try to think breifly before I place a cut, I don't always do the same thing by any stretch.

 

This is just my opinion which you asked for. From what I can see it seems that the limb failed because of the extent of decay on the upper side. That decay seems to extend down into the trunk. There is some reaction wood which I suspect formed alongside the decay. I'm sure that reaction wood is also present and continues in to the stem tissue below the wound and is forming part of the cylinder of wood around the core of decay in the trunk. Now that the limb is gone I would expect to see a slow down in the rate in which new wood is laid down in that area.

 

By cutting through that spike of live wood do you think that would have any bearing on the trees ability to compartmentalise the decay? If that spike of wood had stayed and perhaps sprouted some new shoots, would that have had any bearing on the health of the tissue below the wound?

 

Those are just my thoughts based on the photo and my own observations. To me your post came accross as if you were trying to give me a definative answer to which I disagree. My opinion is that wound will never occlude and stregthen the tree, I think its just going to die (the reaction wood, not the tree). I'm not trying to convince you, just my thoughts for the benifit of a different perspective

Edited January 17, 2010 by gibbon

[Tony Croft aka hamadryad]

I think you misinterpreted my piont. You say you always clean up a stub. My piont is that I try to think breifly before I place a cut, I don't always do the same thing by any stretch.

 

This is just my opinion which you asked for. From what I can see it seems that the limb failed because of the extent of decay on the upper side. That decay seems to extend down into the trunk. There is some reaction wood which I suspect formed alongside the decay. I'm sure that reaction wood is also present and continues in to the stem tissue below the wound and is forming part of the cylinder of wood around the core of decay in the trunk. Now that the limb is gone I would expect to see a slow down in the rate in which new wood is laid down in that area.

 

By cutting through that spike of live wood do you think that would have any bearing on the trees ability to compartmentalise the decay? If that spike of wood had stayed and perhaps sprouted some new shoots, would that have had any bearing on the health of the tissue below the wound?

 

Those are just my thoughts based on the photo and my own observations. To me your post came accross as if you were trying to give me a definative answer to which I disagree. My opinion is that wound will never occlude and stregthen the tree, I think its just going to die (the reaction wood, not the tree). I'm not trying to convince you, just my thoughts for the benifit of a different perspective

 

No problem, I know what works for me.

[Doug Blease]

Nice reduction. Should look great in a few months when the leaves appear.