How to Fill a Tree Wound
- 1). Clean out the wound if it has decay inside the perimeter. Use a very sharp knife to cut out any diseased parts. This is important to prevent sealing in the disease. Clean, healthy wood will naturally seal over quicker.
- 2). Cut the edges of bark that are dead or diseased. Ideally, all loose bark should be removed, and the hole or wound should have an oval shape that is longest along the trunk.
- 3). Apply an asphalt tree wound dressing. The asphalt will stretch and move as the tree grows. Most trees do not need any wound dressing, and experts at the Universities of Texas, Rhode Island and Ohio agree it is not necessary.
- 4). Smear cut paste into the hole. It will fill in the hole and drop off as the tree forms a callus. There are medicated pastes on the market, but they are not necessary, except in the case of oaks and elms.
- 5). Leave the tree alone. This may seem too simple, but it is the natural way. The tree has its own methods of filling in wounds, and any outside substance can actually seal in pathogens and prevent the tree from closing the wound itself.
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