Your tree could die if you prune it incorrectly every time. However, your tree starts a protracted and wonderful recuperation process as soon as you make the cut.
Trees seal instead of healing. They compartmentalize to separate split bark, trimmed limbs, and even severe weather damage. If you have properly pruned your tree or treated its wounds, the natural mechanism will take over and gradually complete the recovering process.
The sections below show how trees come back from potentially fatal wounds and what you can do to assist them while they do so.
How Trees Recover
In contrast to other living things, trees seal wounds rather than heal them. Since injured tissue cannot be repaired, trees have evolved a cunning method of handling potentially fatal wounds.
A tree closes off damaged or diseased regions by creating walls around them, essentially encasing them, in a process known as compartmentalization, which enables the tree to grow and thrive all around it.
Dr. Alex Shigo has developed and studied a theory known as Compartmentalization of Disease in Trees (CODIT). According to CODIT, four protective walls are built as cells alter themselves in response to injuries and illness.
- Wall 1: This prevents the possible spread of infected or sick tissue within the tree’s cambium layer by plugging conductive vascular tissue above and below the lesion.
- Wall 2: The thick-walled latewood growth rings on the inside and outside of the wound combine to form this wall.
- Wall 3: The ray cells that make up this wall create a labyrinth-like barrier against the progression of deterioration. Some of these cells go through a chemical transformation that renders some bacteria hazardous to them.
- Wall 4: The barrier wall, which is the strongest of the four walls, is composed of specialized woody tissue on the outside of the tree. With fresh wood, this wall stitches up a wound.
On trees that have been clipped or damaged, this process can be observed as growth gradually encloses the wounded area.
It could take up to fifteen to twenty years for a tree to entirely compartmentalize and shut off the exterior of a severed limb. However, the containment procedure within the tree is quick and very successful.
How to Aid a Tree Recover from Wounds
You might be tempted to use a tree wound sealant or tree wound paint after trimming or treating a tree wound. It is not required for tiny and medium-sized cuts, though. The tree will take care of the rest of the work itself as long as suitable pruning techniques are followed.
When applied to too big cuts or wounds, a tree wound sealer must enable the wood below it to breathe. As soon as the wound has been sustained, the compartmentalization process starts. Thus, it shouldn’t be administered to the cut’s extremities.
The greatest strategy to aid a tree in recovering after wounds or pruning is to make sure the right fertilization, watering, and mulching techniques are used.
Conclusion
You can prevent irreparable damage by using the right pruning techniques and giving your tree the freedom to compartmentalize as it naturally would.
Your efforts to promote the health of your trees after they have been pruned or harmed will help them finish their own recovery process by compartmentalizing damaged or infected parts. This is done by watering, fertilizing, and mulching them.
ATL Tree Work can take care of your tree pruning in Duluth. We have been servicing the needs of Atlanta homeowners and businesses since 2003.
We give our commercial and residential customers exceptional results at affordable prices without compromising the quality of service. Call us right away whenever you need tree-related services.
