I had to cut the top off an Asian Pear tree. The trunk that was left is about 8 or 9 inches in diameter. I angled the cut slightly to shed rain.
Should I seal the cut with something or can the trunk be left alone?
I’ve seen ancient, giant trees cut down like this and they build a little house on the top to protect the cut. But maybe that was for decoration.
Unless you are grafting around the circumference with scions that would accelerate healing over the cut with fresh bark, it’s likely that the center of the cut will dry out allowing infiltration of water and ultimately rot from center out! Sloping the cut helps, but it needs to be sealed with either a white latex exterior paint or pruning sealer. Sealing helps protect from water and sun damage until the bark can grow over the cut, which can take many years for a cut that large. I meant to add that each year as you notice the sealer is not sealing new cracks that occur while the bark is healing, you need to reseal any new cracks until such time as the outer bark grows over and covers the cut. Bark typically grows very slowly not much more than 1/4 to 1/2” annually, so it will take a number of years that you need to reseal any cracks.
Dennis
Kent, Wa
Thanks Dennis!
Do you know if roof tar be used? The kind in the can for patching.
Sure it would work as well!
There has been a lot of research that shows using a sealer on pruning cuts is NOT beneficial.
Perhaps in some cases but in a wet environment like here, doing nothing is not a good option, I have seen what happens thru neglect
Based on a couple of cherry trees in pnw area, sealing probably wouldve been useful when arborists cut about their top 1/3. 1 rotted from the top and made it’s way to the bottom. How do I know this? I noticed a few years ago the tree looked sick and the top (where the cut was made a few years prior) was rotting a bit so I proceeded to remove the rotting top portion but I realized after the initial top cut that the rot was lower…
So I chased down that rot and eventually realized the rot actually made it’s way to the ground already so I had to remove the tree entirely. The other one was on its way to the same death but I was able to, so far, trim it down to about 7ft (from initial height of 15ft post arborist cutting). How much longer will it survive, time will tell. I did use tangle foot tree wound sealer and so far it seems to be holding up.
How old/tall was it and how much did you cut?
For what I recall pears get mighty pissed if they get topped? As in they stop producing fruit?
The pic below is the heartwood of my 30 year old IE mulberry. I topped it much later than I should have about when the trunk was about 8-10” thick at 10’ high. I had not realized it could grow so tall so fast. In hindsight had I topped it forcing lateral growth a few years earlier I would have prevented this issue because the tree bark would have had a smaller cut to cover. So 3 years ago, I noticed it was trapping water, rotting out the core, because water was just sitting there all winter-spring during our wet season.
So I used my electric chainsaw to carve out all rotten wood until I got down to hard bright live wood at the middle on the trunk. Then I carved drainage channels from top of the cut down to the exterior. Each year now I simply blow out the debris, and repaint the exposed interior with exterior latex paint. So far this strategy has worked very well. Maybe someday the researchers will discover my work and revise their strategy for healing bug cuts. Had I painted this cut before it began to rot out, the rot may have been prevented.
This year my family sold over 100 lbs of fruit, and I gather probably 12 gallons off the ground that fell as they ripened for my worm bins.
Probably two more weeks of production remains
Dennis
Kent, Wa
@DennisD thanks for posting this as it reminded me to check that second Cherry tree that wala topped and not painted…it had a small but deep recessed area in the middle somewhat like on your tree.
