First, I'd like to thank all of you for the wonderful information you give out--I've been lurking around for awhile. So I knew somebody would surely have some ideas about my problem. I planted some new apple trees (whips) last fall, and they were looking wonderful until yesterday, when the man that mows our lawn got a little overzealous with the weedeater and took a lot of bark off around the base of a couple of them. One of them even looked a little wilted this afternoon. I was wondering if there was anything I can do to help these trees survive? Any advice will be greatly appreciated!

-- Jackie (japrice@icse007.com), April 20, 2002

Answers

Give them a drink (water deeply). Cover the wounds with tree wound compound (from Lowe's, Agway etc.). If they don't come back have your lawn guy get you some more!

-- Mike in Pa (smfine@yahoo.com), April 20, 2002.

do a bridge graft, NOW !!! covering the wound wont help at all if the tree has been girdled more than 50 %. Take a clipping from the tree, and garft on both sides of the "wound", one should do it, if they are whips

-- Stan (sopal@net-pert.com), April 20, 2002.

I am among those of the opinion that one should never use tree wound, ever! It hurts a tree more than helps it, especially on young trees. It is NOT a bandage as many people believe and does NOT prevent insect damage. It is like having your pores clogged more than anything and the tree can't heal properly underneath. It just invites infection.

I do agree with the deep watering because if they are just whips they are exposed to the air more and can't contain thier moisture. At this point most of all you have to be concerned about insect damage. Critters love to get past the bark of a tree.

Although in most cases of grafting, I would agree with Stan; however, in this case I don't think I would do a graft. If it is just a whip you don't have much tree to spare at this point and taking a graft when it has been stripped of its bark is just too much for the poor little guy to take.

I would just water it good every other day, watch for insects (since it is early in the season - spray with dormant oil), and hope for recovery.

You will probably get a lot of variety of answers on this one. Orchard keepers are like gardeners - everyone has an opinion! Each opinion does have its pro and cons. Just do what sounds sensible to you and hope for the best! Let us know what you decide to do and how it works out.

-- Karen (mountains_mama2@hotmail.com), April 20, 2002.

To prevent our young fruit trees from weed-eater injuries, etc., we always mulch (shredded hardwood) in a large circle around the base of each tree. Mulching not only provides a "mow-free zone" around each tree, but also conserves water and smothers weeds while it feeds the soil. You should consider mulching around your young trees in the future.

-- Liz Rhein (merhein@shentel.net), April 20, 2002.

But don't put the mulch against the bark of the tree. Leave a small space next to the tree or the bugs and mold will attack the bark and you are right back where you started after the weed eater done its thing.

-- Mel Kelly (melkelly@webtv.net), April 20, 2002.

Without the graft, the tree will always have problems. The small wound will result in a major weak spot as the tree gets older. To avoid this kind of injury in the future grow your whips in tree tubes, it keeps the weed wackers and critters away from them until they can get a good start. Keep the groound mulched but not up to the trunk. Good luck

-- Paul (treewizard@buffalo.com), April 20, 2002.

I guess I should have clearified about the graft. If it is just that the "bark" is off, I still stand by not grafting. If, however, it has actually cut into the tree significantly, then yes, I would agree with the graft because you will lose the tree anyway and it is worth trying the graft.

If it does need a graft and you need grafting instructions, let us know. A poor graft is as bad as no graft.

-- Karen (mountains_mama2@hotmail.com), April 21, 2002.

Hey, these are just whips, right? Go buy new ones and protect them against the idiot with the weed whipper. You want good healthy trees in a few years, not something that may never be right again, or at the least, held up in growth for years as it tries to recover. It would be one thing if they were on the back 40 where you aren't looking at them all the time, but these are in your yard. Go buy new ones and make the yard guy pay for them.

-- Jennifer L. (Northern NYS) (jlance@nospammail.com), April 21, 2002.

You might want to let the "how to books" know that tree wound is so terrible.

-- Mike in Pa (smfine@yahoo.com), April 21, 2002.

I agree with Jennifer L., go and get a couple of new trees and also get some of those plastic tree trunk protectors. If you don't have them on than the rabbits will surely get them if the weedeater dosn't. emory

-- Emory (NE PA) (et@hazleton.net), April 21, 2002.

Mike....Most of the new credible books written by orchard experts now DO tell you not to use tree wound. Many books who advocate tree wound are generalized books on tree/forestry and they don't know about orchard crops (which are quite differant from forestry) and are written by people who don't raise orchard crops for a living.

Also, tree wound today is much differant from tree wound of old. Today's tree wound contains chemical/petrolium bases which allow for no breathing of the wood nor does it actually "seal" as the older types did. Insects DO penetrate it and insects love to find those little groves to get under.

Quite frankly, there are few reasons why ANY tree would need tree wound unless it was an usually sappy tree such as a pine (when the sap was running) where way too much sap would be lost when making a major cut. If you understand or have studied the physical and biological make up of a the trees you would understand there is no real reason for using tree wound.

-- Karen (mountains_mama2@hotmail.com), April 21, 2002.

Didn't see if your trees are standards or dwarfs. If your tree is on it's own rootstock and not a grafted top to start with, it may resprout below the damage. If it is a grafted top [most dwarf trees are] you will likely need a new tree.

-- Thumper/inOKC (slrldr@yahoo.com), April 21, 2002.