Thirty five years ago, a Maple on our front lawn developed a
vertical crack at the center of the 12" trunk below the "Y" branching.
Strong winds and a weak "Y" branching were the cause. We could
hear the creaking sound of the wood when the winds picked up.

Actually on the city's property, their arborists examined the tree and
decided to mend it rather than take it down. They bored a hole clean
through the trunk across the crack. Then they inserted a heavy
threaded rod, and cinched the crack together with nuts. Initially the
tree had a Frankenstein look but some years later you couldn't see
where the bark covered the hardware. To this day that Maple
remains healthy.

Good luck with your water oak, and better luck with your neighbor.


"Bradleygreig" wrote in message
...
Any advice is appreciated... I live in South-East Texas.

I have a water oak, about 12 feet tall, with a trunk circumference
of about 12
inches. It's growth is being hampered by a sweetgum tree growing
next to it
that is about 30 feet tall, with a couple of dead branches. My
desire is to
remove the sweetgum and allow the oak to grow.

The oak appears to be very healthy this spring, with vigorous growth
and bright
green leaves. My concern is that about 5 feet above the ground,
where it
begins to branch out, it was inadvertently shot by a neighbor with a
small
caliber, high power rifle (.223). This occured about 6 months ago,
just before
fall. The wound looks nasty, going through the center of the trunk.
When I
pulled on the water oak, I heard the faint sound of wood cracking.
The tree
still seems very healthy otherwise, however, and my question is
whether or not
I can expect the wound to heal. I definitely want to keep this
tree, is there
anything I can do to facilitate the healing?

Is it possible for this to heal and for it to be a healthy tree?
Thanks in
advance for responses.

Thanks,
Brad Greig