Any Wood Surgeons Care to Offer Their Opinions?

[ValentineHill]

I was just finishing off the last of the clean up from the snowstorm, branches and twigs and that stuff, and I noticed that one of the branches of the berry tree out front had snapped but not fallen down. Not wanting to get up on a ladder I just knocked at it with the camp axe 5 or 6 times. I'm afraid it wasn't the cleanest cut, though (pictures below). I've got two questions:

1) Does this not clean cut present a bug/infection risk to the tree? If so, how should I clean it up?

2) Any ideas on what type of tree it is? My hardwood ID skills are a lot better than my decorative berry tree skills...

Thanks!

 

[Got Wood]

A heck of a lot of trees in our area with broken branches like that

 

[Bocefus78]

A better pic of fruit bark or leaf would help but possibly a crabapple?

 

[fossil]

Seems to me that trees pretty routinely suffer and survive damage like that without any human intervention. But then, I'm in no way any sort of authoritative source of info on the subject. Rick

 

[ValentineHill]

Sorry -- I was thinking more about the crappy cut on the limb than getting a good picture of the fruit!

Here's a shot of what the leaves and fruit look like.

 

[The Beagler]

I think you'll be ok. If there is a good certified arborist that does tree work in your area, maybe give him a
Call. I'm sure they are quite busy now. I've seen trees with far worse damage that are still living today after
The damage was done over 20 years ago! Then again, I've seen trees die several years after a "fly by night"
Tree service trimmed them.
That looks a big crabapple. Very large specimen. It may be worth having someone come out with the
Proper equipment to get a good clean cut on the branch if that tree is a focal point of your house.
If it's not, I wouldn't worry about it.

 

[firefighterjake]

Not an arborist . . . but as others have mentioned trees do heal naturally and suffer similar damage. That said, I suspect a cleaner cut made with a saw or some sorts might be better for the tree . . . if for no other reason to make it look a bit cleaner.

Pics are pretty small . . . hard to make a good ID . . . it looks a bit like crab apples.

 

[fsr4538]

I take it you live in Durham?

Forrest

 

[ValentineHill]

Yeah, right around the corner from UNH. The academic types and undergrads sometimes give an odd look when I'm scrounging for wood, but there's a surprisingly large amount of wood that the college cuts down that they're happy to have taken away.

Where are you located?

 

[gpcollen1]

How on earth are you making those pics so tiny? i cannot see a thing???

 

[ValentineHill]

Yeah, I'm clearly messing up the "photo posting rules" in some way -- I've shrunk them down to 150 pixels x 150 pixels. I can try to take some more later if it will help (although I care much much less about the ID than the advice about keeping the tree healthy). Sorry!

 

[fossil]

Yeah, I'm clearly messing up the "photo posting rules" in some way -- I've shrunk them down to 150 pixels x 150 pixels. I can try to take some more later if it will help (although I care much much less about the ID than the advice about keeping the tree healthy). Sorry!

That's almost Avatar size. A normal attached pic can be like 800x800. You'll figger 'er out. Rick

 

[ValentineHill]

Thanks Rick -- nothing like a newbie for overkill!