Tree damage. Will it survive.

[logwood]

Hi

 

i have this goat willow. A limb coming from the main trunk has snapped, I know they are prone to this as are brittle trees.

 

my question is will this survive or will it kill the whole tree. Happened yesterday.

 

pic attached. Any advice would be appreciated 

 

regards

 

paul

 

 

[Stere]

Yes it probably will survive  for yrs  esp being  a willow.

 

 

If left to is  own  in the  longer term maybe  decades etc   the wound/defect  could cause  the  top blow/break off   and then maybe    it will then either sprout from the base or root as phoenix tree if  top  is still attached.

 

 

 

Pollarding below the wound is  an option or just leave it  be  & see what happens.

[peds]

Goat willows love that kind of thing. Yank off that limb that's trying to escape, leave it on the ground, check back next year and you now have twice as many goat willows. 

[logwood]

Sound advice…

 

I did think being a willow it would recover.

 

i am a gardener but know a little about how well willows in general respond to hard pruning and that they are susceptible to brittle snaps.

 

what worries me is that I piled a load of leaves nearby tarped and hoping this wasn’t what caused it. Although it was away from the trunk and only for a week or two till my next visit… as I know they suck water up like the proverbial.

 

And they sent me the picture asking what happened.

 

i am a gardener and not a tree surgeon.

 

i suspect it’s the frosts that have caused it. But any thoughts are useful. It’s not too dangerous as away from the road but they like the tree… was it my fault with the leaves as it was a huge huge huge pile but was only there for a bout four days one side of the tree…

 

interesting tho. The tree seems healthy imo

[Mick Dempsey]

It’s quite normal.

They break regularly, especially when left as a single tree like that, there’s a bit of included bark there as well, don’t worry about the leaves, killing the tree would be an achievement.