squisher
THE CALM ONE!!!!
Looks real good Stephen.
Before & After Tree Care
- Thread starter bonner1040
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CurSedVoyce
California Hillbilly
Thanks 
MasterBlaster
Administrator Emeritus
We have a different mistletoe specie growing here, it appears.
Mick!
TreeHouser
Tell me about the mistletoe, when you cut it out does it comes back from the same point?
CurSedVoyce
California Hillbilly
It can. I have had good success with shaving it off the limb or leader down into the cambium and then sealing it with a pruning sealer. The prunin sealer is like a tar, spray on. This keeps light off the remaining root system in the wood and seemingly starves it. This applies to broad leaf mistletoe, not the dwarf, since it does have it's own photo synthesis process. The wound sealer probably does not help it's cause being a petroleum product.
Some complete limb were removed on this tree as they were too compromised and dying or dead. No targets were near the tree, so this process of shaving the compromised limb was acceptable IMO, which will leave the limb eventually hollow as the mistletoe dies out.
There will be more seeds that will sprout and some that have probably even rooted into the tree that are not yet sprouting due to the lack of water and the dormancy of the tree. These will be addressed every couple years with maintenance visits.
Some complete limb were removed on this tree as they were too compromised and dying or dead. No targets were near the tree, so this process of shaving the compromised limb was acceptable IMO, which will leave the limb eventually hollow as the mistletoe dies out.
There will be more seeds that will sprout and some that have probably even rooted into the tree that are not yet sprouting due to the lack of water and the dormancy of the tree. These will be addressed every couple years with maintenance visits.
Mick!
TreeHouser
Thanks for the info, we get a lot here (near Bordeaux BTW) and people ask me to remove it but I turn it down. It can be on the trunk as well as limbs.
The poplars out here can become riddled with it. I've noticed it on Pops, limes, apples, acacias and once on a Red or American oak, (as it's called here)
The poplars out here can become riddled with it. I've noticed it on Pops, limes, apples, acacias and once on a Red or American oak, (as it's called here)
Tucker943
Bamboo Plantation Owner
Stephen, your mistletoe removal, pruning, and trim work always looks so nice. You really do excellent work. I can look at a lot of peoples before and after and think "I might have left this, or taken that, or not elevated it so much, etc". When I look at your work I think "I hope my work looks like that".
CurSedVoyce
California Hillbilly
Wow Chris! Thanks man!
Just try to do what I think is right with the tree...
Just try to do what I think is right with the tree...
treelooker
Treehouser
"It can. I have had good success with shaving it off the limb or leader down into the cambium and then sealing it with a pruning sealer. The prunin sealer is like a tar, spray on. This keeps light off the remaining root system in the wood and seemingly starves it. This applies to broad leaf mistletoe, not the dwarf, since it does have it's own photo synthesis process. The wound sealer probably does not help it's cause being a petroleum product.
Some complete limb were removed on this tree as they were too compromised and dying or dead. No targets were near the tree, so this process of shaving the compromised limb was acceptable IMO, which will leave the limb eventually hollow as the mistletoe dies out.
There will be more seeds that will sprout and some that have probably even rooted into the tree that are not yet sprouting due to the lack of water and the dormancy of the tree. These will be addressed every couple years with maintenance visits."
Good strategy re mistletoe control. Butch, the same works for Phoradendron sp. in LA (and NC). Not sure how bad the limbs will be hollowing out from the mistletoe, or how much that matters structurally tho.
Becasse (you like birds?), I saw some in Q. rubra near Bordeaux (not many trees in the city
) last Oct. It's nice to leave here and there on low branches for wildlife, but it can mess up the crown all right.
Here's a busted up maple with mistletoe b&a. I went back up and took some off that right hand leader afterward.
Some complete limb were removed on this tree as they were too compromised and dying or dead. No targets were near the tree, so this process of shaving the compromised limb was acceptable IMO, which will leave the limb eventually hollow as the mistletoe dies out.
There will be more seeds that will sprout and some that have probably even rooted into the tree that are not yet sprouting due to the lack of water and the dormancy of the tree. These will be addressed every couple years with maintenance visits."
Good strategy re mistletoe control. Butch, the same works for Phoradendron sp. in LA (and NC). Not sure how bad the limbs will be hollowing out from the mistletoe, or how much that matters structurally tho.
Becasse (you like birds?), I saw some in Q. rubra near Bordeaux (not many trees in the city
) last Oct. It's nice to leave here and there on low branches for wildlife, but it can mess up the crown all right.Here's a busted up maple with mistletoe b&a. I went back up and took some off that right hand leader afterward.
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CurSedVoyce
California Hillbilly
That maple sure looked like it took a beating before you got to it Guy.
MIstletoe is so heavy it tears the trees limbs down here, The limbs get horribly laden with it. Add some high winds and now... pop...
MIstletoe is so heavy it tears the trees limbs down here, The limbs get horribly laden with it. Add some high winds and now... pop...
treelooker
Treehouser
Can't blame the 'toe for this one--crappy codom forks and utter neglect by owners. They had a 20" lead crash into their pool and fence last June, but only called after this 86 mph wind rolled in. The big wound in the left lead put them on notice--Biannual assessment essential.
I've seen it in CA near Yosemite just tear oaks down though; bad stuff.
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CurSedVoyce
California Hillbilly
Yup... you seen it in my back yard then 
rumination
Migratory Hippie Arbolist
That was a nice before and after Guy. Great pruning work.
Tucker943
Bamboo Plantation Owner
I wouldn't leave that or charge them to keep looking at it.
treelooker
Treehouser
O hell yeah they are charged for time looking. I'm not that crazy. In fact I misspoke; it's Semiannual, twice a year, climb and look while treating the 'toe. They're just 5 minutes away, with other work on multiple adjacent properties.
That is a horrendous wound, and there's nothing to cable it to, so I beefed up the disclaimer on this one. For a change I would not argue if someone said the tree was too fecked to retain.
but the lady said do whatever it takes to keep it. I'll get an afterafter pic to show the wound trimmed and sealed.Thanks Leon--let's see some ficus!
Tucker943
Bamboo Plantation Owner
When I meant not charge them, I didn't mean I'd do it for free. I meant I don't think I'd be inclined to leave it and keep revisiting it. From that one and only picture, id do all I could to talk the HO into removing the tree or that portion of the tree.
BUT, that's based on a picture on the internet. Im not there to make the right decision.
BUT, that's based on a picture on the internet. Im not there to make the right decision.
treelooker
Treehouser
Well I'm not 100% sure that I did right either, but the decision is the owner's, so no big sales pitch from me either way. I gotta wonder--why would you try so hard to persuade them to remove the tree? A cynical observer might think it's short-term greed. But I imagine the great majority of arbs would do as you suggest.
I wouldn't call em wrong. Maybe impatient, or obsessed over decay, or not seeing it in tree time. I let the owners know that I was counting on some sprouting further back on the leader, so it could be reduced more over time and still stay healthy. I got 3 coats of sealant on the fresh wound, but still that leader's gonna rot. Rot is hard to predict--that's why the 2x/year inspection--but it can be managed, all in good time.
rumination
Migratory Hippie Arbolist
What are you using as a sealant Guy?
Tucker943
Bamboo Plantation Owner
I wouldn't necessarily push a complete removal. That portion of the tree I wouldn't trust. Based on storm damage clean up experience. But, it has nothing to do with greed. I don't push customers based greed. Ive done my best over the years to be ethical and stand by my morals.
More importantly then my suggestion of mitigating the hazard, is the fact that Im not there to form a true opinion of my own. One picture shows me very little. I don't see how much weight is above that break out point. I don't see the targets underneath. I don't know your weather patterns. Based on that one and only picture, eliminating that hazard stood out. If taking that portion of the tree was reasonable and would suffice, then great. If that made up a great majority of the tree and would take away the majority of the tree, id lean toward a removal, as opposed to a never ending project of sprout removal and restructuring. Again, one picture doesn't tell the whole story. I gave my opinion based on only one picture, and nothing else. that's why I made sure to note that Im not there, and you are.
More importantly then my suggestion of mitigating the hazard, is the fact that Im not there to form a true opinion of my own. One picture shows me very little. I don't see how much weight is above that break out point. I don't see the targets underneath. I don't know your weather patterns. Based on that one and only picture, eliminating that hazard stood out. If taking that portion of the tree was reasonable and would suffice, then great. If that made up a great majority of the tree and would take away the majority of the tree, id lean toward a removal, as opposed to a never ending project of sprout removal and restructuring. Again, one picture doesn't tell the whole story. I gave my opinion based on only one picture, and nothing else. that's why I made sure to note that Im not there, and you are.
squisher
THE CALM ONE!!!!
The angle of the pic makes it look like it could be threatening the structure that you can see in the pic too?
I'm interested to know what you're using as sealant too Guy.
I'm interested to know what you're using as sealant too Guy.
atw
TreeHouser
Before and after pictures of job we did today to improve view of San Juan Islands
Not really tree health since we killed several trees, but we did open up the view and changed the landscape
Joezilla11
TreeHouser
Nice view!
CurSedVoyce
California Hillbilly
Cake walk mistletoe removals today
Black oak and two blues..... Just mistletoe, hazard dead and what was convenient... HO liked.. The bigger blue (65 or so feet tall) would really shine with a proper clean out. Not that the small one would suffer for it either.
That little black oak is just pain pretty when it is all leafed out.
Black oak and two blues..... Just mistletoe, hazard dead and what was convenient... HO liked.. The bigger blue (65 or so feet tall) would really shine with a proper clean out. Not that the small one would suffer for it either.
That little black oak is just pain pretty when it is all leafed out.
