On Tue, 12 Jun 2007 10:28:56 -0700, Sheldon wrote:

"Charles T. Smith" wrote:

Cement? I was thinking along the lines of tar. I have an unused bag of
cement, and I've seen trees with cement plugs, now that you mention
it... But it seems extreme to me ... for example, cement gets warm when
it hardens. That won't be a problem? Would cement be less of a
chemical toxen to the tree than tar, for example?

Were it an old hollow tree or relatively large cavity then cement will
cause problems. But yours is a very young tree, which in a few years will
grow enough that it reduces that borer hole to mere insignificance. As to
heat, trees easily tolerate far higher temperatures over much longer
periods simply by growing in the sun. And that is why filling a void with
tar is not a good idea, it's fine to "cauterize" a small surface wound in
order to prevent entrance by insects and water. Whenever the sun strikes
that tree the tar will reliquify to some degree and leach throughout the
tree even into the living portions especially downwards (gravity) to the
root area and that may interfere with sap flow... in a small tree that can
have the same effect as a blood clot in your leg, death. Patching cement
doesn't generate much heat, you can run a small test batch and check the
temperature with an insta-read thermometer... I seriously doubt it will
reach more than 90F during the curing, and only for a very short duration,
not nearly as hot as the surface of a tree gets from the sun, and thats
all day every every sunny summer day.

And if you're still tentative go to a plant nursery and ask if they can
recommend an arborist's cement, calking compound or some such. Plumbers
putty would work too, or spackle patching compound (probably easier to
work with than cement, a small $2 can from The Depot will do, all you want
to do is fill the void until the tree heals itself. Let us know if you get
that borer out.


No, I'll do the cement, I have it on hand.

But what do you mean, get the borer out? I was planning to just mash
up and down with a heavy wire and then follow up with some insecticide -
do you think it wise to actually have his carcass in hand (habeas corpus,
so to speak)?