Walking through the yard yesterday I noticed that my 3 year old peach tree has a major split down the center of the trunk- at the attachment of a large lower branch. I see the problem lies with limb attachment being V-shaped. I went ahead and pruned the offending branch to remove some weight from the split, which runs about 6" smack-dab down the center of the trunk. Is it possible to save this tree? I've got a couple of pictures that I could forward along.
Thanks!
Depending on the severity of the split you have several options (from least severe to most severe):
1. Prune the branch back to a bud outside the split. Clear out any splinters inside the broken area and nail the branch back in place. The branch will heal and grow back if not too badly split, use only for a branch that is <1" diameter. I did this with an apple tree that had snow and ice damage years ago. I cut the branches back and put in a bunch of drywall screws to hold it all together.
2. Prune the branch back to just outside the collar where it joins the trunk. Clear out any splinters inside the broken area and nail the stub back in place. The trunk will heal over the wound in time.
3. If the branch has split off and torn bark down the tree you might have to just cut the whole branch off and gouge out the wound so no water stands in the wound, it needs to be able to drain. Eventually the bark will grow back and cover the wound.
4. If extremely bad you may have to cut the tree off just above a bud and allow it to grow back. Make sure you are cutting above the graft though so you don't lose your fruiting variety. A couple years ago a buck came through my yard and rubbed a cherry tree of mine. Stripped the bark down to 18" from the ground. I had to cut the tree off above an un-injured bud. It has made a good recovery.
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