Strange holes in oak tree (and what to do)
 

Back a few years ago, I had an oak tree fall against this much small
tree. Were the tree hit, a large chunk of the bark was taken off.
Well, I left it, not knowing what to do.

Well, just today, I noticed that something has been eating the tree,
with these big holes. It seems to have happened recently, as I have
not noticed it before and there are still some wood pieces on the
ground. It could be a woodpecker or something. What did this and is
there any way to help the tree. the wound seems pretty deep, but less
than half of the depth of the trunk. The trunk is about 8" in
diameter. You can see where the bark was beginning to form around the
scraped area.

Here is a link to a pictu

http://spilledwhine.com/pics/IMG_2681.JPG

Thanks,

Tom

Strange holes in oak tree (and what to do)
 

wrote in message
...
Back a few years ago, I had an oak tree fall against this much small
tree. Were the tree hit, a large chunk of the bark was taken off.
Well, I left it, not knowing what to do.

Well, just today, I noticed that something has been eating the tree,
with these big holes. It seems to have happened recently, as I have
not noticed it before and there are still some wood pieces on the
ground. It could be a woodpecker or something. What did this and is
there any way to help the tree. the wound seems pretty deep, but less
than half of the depth of the trunk. The trunk is about 8" in
diameter. You can see where the bark was beginning to form around the
scraped area.

Here is a link to a pictu

http://spilledwhine.com/pics/IMG_2681.JPG

Thanks,

Tom

Looks like termites or carpenter ants and a lot of dry rot... you should
have tended to that wound years back when it occured... now it's too weak to
allow it grow near other structures, that tree is a goner. From the bark it
appears to be a very ordinary oak, not really worth the price of a bandaid.
Get rid of it, check for wood eating insects in the stump and ground before
planting another tree or don't plant anything there.

Strange holes in oak tree (and what to do)
 

On Mon, 27 Apr 2009 14:01:15 -0700 (PDT), wrote:

Back a few years ago, I had an oak tree fall against this much small
tree. Were the tree hit, a large chunk of the bark was taken off.
Well, I left it, not knowing what to do.

Well, just today, I noticed that something has been eating the tree,
with these big holes. It seems to have happened recently, as I have
not noticed it before and there are still some wood pieces on the
ground. It could be a woodpecker or something. What did this and is
there any way to help the tree. the wound seems pretty deep, but less
than half of the depth of the trunk. The trunk is about 8" in
diameter. You can see where the bark was beginning to form around the
scraped area.

Here is a link to a pictu

http://spilledwhine.com/pics/IMG_2681.JPG

Thanks,

Tom


Possible insect damage. Clean out any loose debris in the hollow and
keep it clean. Used to treat holes with tar, but now the procedure is
to just keep it clean. Most healthy trees will heal over in time. I
had one tree with a large 6x8" hole, as time passed the hole got
smaller until it healed over completely.

Strange holes in oak tree (and what to do)
 

wrote in message
...
Back a few years ago, I had an oak tree fall against this much small
tree. Were the tree hit, a large chunk of the bark was taken off.
Well, I left it, not knowing what to do.

Well, just today, I noticed that something has been eating the tree,
with these big holes. It seems to have happened recently, as I have
not noticed it before and there are still some wood pieces on the
ground. It could be a woodpecker or something. What did this and is
there any way to help the tree. the wound seems pretty deep, but less
than half of the depth of the trunk. The trunk is about 8" in
diameter. You can see where the bark was beginning to form around the
scraped area.

Here is a link to a pictu

http://spilledwhine.com/pics/IMG_2681.JPG

Thanks,

Tom

Carpenter ants, acrobat ants, or termites are probable.

About 3 years ago, I had similar problem with 2 live oaks. Carpenter ants
ate out some insides of both of these oaks, then, were driven out by acrobat
ants. These ants compounded the problem by their nesting habits of creating
frass and enlarging the pathways already there from the carpenter ants. So
said an exterminator company that I hired.

An exterminator company was called in. It was late spring. They used a
squeeze bottle to expel some kind of very fine dust in these cavities.
Buttload tons of acrobat ants exited in apparent death near. The following
week, one more treatment, very few ants left. I kept an eye on it, some
were stubbornly still around. I just used some boric acid at these entry
points, refreshed every 2 weeks. There may be entry points that are not
readily visible My concern at this point is what you don't readily see and
may be difficult to access and pinpoint.

After treating and barring entry, that winter, I got most of the mottled
wood out of the trees that were treated. Its been 3 years, both live oaks
are okay as far as I can see.
--
Dave